We hear much about town centre regeneration
these days and there have been no shortage of meetings in recent years where
the topic has been debated. One town centre organisation however, just goes
from strength to strength. The latest planning application for Nairn Sports
Club includes internal changes and the addition of additional gym space. You can view the application here.
This observer was impressed also by the
comments of the Chair of Auldearn Community Council Chair, Roger Milton, at a
meeting recently of all the area’s Community Councils where the town centre was
discussed. Roger is also a member of the Sports Club. He told those present:
“We have a Sports Club there with a quarter
of a million annual turnover, we employ six people. We are like for like the
best club in the Highlands , the best sporting facilities anywhere and this has been done by an
amateur committee. Quite frankly, we understand the market. We provide
consistently the things that have been self-funded, self-generated. In the
right framework you can create a situation that brings employment back into the
town and provides a fantastic facility for local people. That can be done on a
large scale and a small scale but certainly you have to make sure that the
economics of it work.”
Interesting comments then from Roger, the
community can justly be proud of the achievements of the Sports Club, it does
indeed potentially demonstrate a model for any town centre regeneration
projects that might go forward if plans by NICE and the Community Councils ever
get off the drawing board.
The Sports Centre has done well but I find the prices prohibitive. It would be great if the Highlands could afford/follow Birmingham's example
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22345016
Hi Anon, have to confess an interest, this observer is a member and finds the £20 per month fee well within range.
ReplyDeleteGreenleaf--£20 a month well within your range--what kind of job you got--no way i could look at that outlay per month and yes i do and have always been employed.
ReplyDeletethe sports centre,hmmmm nice to see it prosper,whatever happened to the demolishment of old bus station?are they waiting for it to fill up with gulls shite again
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of all sports facilities being free like the Birmingham idea, but who would pay for it?
ReplyDeleteI don't drink or smoke but for me at the present time £20 a month for membership of the Sports Club is still £20 I don't have spare, lucky those that do
Good grief, you can't win for the whingers in Nairn.
ReplyDeleteGood to see the Sports Centre thriving, it's a great facility for the town and £20 a month membership is very good!
The Birmingham scheme is for Council run properties, so that would be the Swimming Pool/Gym rather than the Sports Club and it's not 'free', it comes out of your rather hefty Council Tax bill. It's also only for Gym/Swimming/Group Gym classes, so the high life scheme which is very fairly priced compared to most gyms!
Point taken anon and anon I know there are some folk in real difficulties in Nairn just now.
ReplyDelete£20 a month however for all the facilities is a bargain compared to what some sports facilites and gyms charge - which would be out of my reach most of the time. I hope your cash flow situations improve soon.
thanks for the comments.
I'm sure without meaning to the article has drawn some comments that highlight the society we live in. £20 for gym membership is beyond some folk's wildest dreams in terms of being able to spend that amount of money on leisure.
ReplyDeleteI wonder as to how many are in dire straights and cannot afford the luxury of reading the Gurn (yes I know it's free but requires a computer and internet access etc)
The biggest recent employer in Nairn is Sainsbury's but most of the jobs are minimum wage and part time
Recent reports suggest many people are using their credit cards to buy food and record amounts of cash borrowed thought the immoral pay day loan schemes
We need proper jobs for our community not project role models, then we might all be able to afford membership of the Sports Club and even enjoy a drink in the new sports bar afterwards