If Sutton Coldfield can do it...why not Nairn?

The latest newsletter from the Scottish Community Alliance popped onto the Gurn e-doormat this morning. It had a headline title "If Sutton Coldfield can do it..." We adapted that title for this article. 

Perhaps the West Midlands scenario of Sutton Coldfield voting for UDI from Birmingham is not wholly analogous with Nairn's relationship with Inverness but in the context of a democratic deficit it probably hits the same spot. 

Here's what the SCA newsletter had to say:

"Throughout all the discussions over the past couple of years about community empowerment and the debates as to what should be in and what should be left out of the Bill, the elephant in the room has been what to do about our missing tier of local democracy. The residents of Sutton Coldfield have just voted to establish a new Town Council, taking on powers previously vested with Birmingham City Council. The new Town Council will raise income through a local tax and deliver local services. Why can't that happen here?"

Why can't that happen here? A vote to see what Nairnites would like to do? We never had a vote either on whether we should have just one community council for the town - that could have been an embryonic vehicle for a re-birth of Nairn District Council.   More details about the Sutton Coldfield situation here on the SCA website.