Dominating the front page is a report on how the issue of asbestos is continuing to affect the lives of folk in 26 houses up at Queenspark and specifically those who brought their houses from the Council. An awful situation for those concerned and reports of a drop in property value for one unfortunate householder. All the usual pics and information from the Games too and much more in this week’s 16 pager.
On page 4 there is news of Nairn managing to keep it’s ward manager in the Courthouse although Louise will now have to spend some of her time working on neighbouring ward 18 issues and there are worries of how sustainable the new Courthouse situation is after job cuts, with Liz quoted voicing concerns: “The service point is is like a ghost ship just now.”
There is mention of more responsibility coming back to Nairn in a small way with quotes from a mannie David Haas who will be the new senior ward manager but what will that mean in practice? Read the article in the paper and see for yourself, will anything good come out of all this background chatter? This observer feels that that is highly unlikely given the previous track record. Nairn has lost jobs out of the cuts that will never come back and Glenurquhart Road is once again making soothing noises to try and calm us all down.
Again Iain Bain is on the ball with his editorial which looks at the issues raised in the article in depth. Here’s just a snippet of Iain, once again detailing the case against the Invercentrics that have steadily stripped power from Nairn:
“Over the years Nairn has lost not only its burghal stature but its council meetings and its courts. In more recent years it has seen its planning department go and there is no longer any input into licensing.” He continues in the same vein and asks “We wonder where it will all end."
A lot of folk feel it’s certainly time to get some power back in Nairn and not just a few crumbs from the Inverness table either. Time for real decision making to come back to Nairn. Read an analysis about what has been done to Nairnshire by Highland Council – see Iain Bain’s editorial this week!
2 comments:
Iain Bain's editorial is stirring stuff. Striking a similar note is MSP Rob Gibson - there's a piece in the Herald today if you can find it. He's the MSP for Caithness and says decisions are being made outwith the area and he is canvassing views om devolving decision making down to local level.
Wouldn't it be great if decisions about Nairn were made in Nairn by those who know what they're talking about? Come to think of it, why aren't we allowed to vote for all 80 Highland councillors rather than just the 4 Nairn ones? It's mostly the others who decide what happens.
Thanks Green Dad, I'll go and seek that out.
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