Nairn : a very busy vibrant town I don't think so. More like a scruffy town with a run down High Street were weeds gum and bird droppings abound. No civic pride in Nairn just look at our neighbouring town of Forres - puts us to shame!
Highland Council organised a Town Charrette two years ago and published an "action plan". It cost £15,000. It set out a vision for Nairn. But it can't be delivered due to a lack of resources - but let's have another consultation anyway. If Drew Hendry wants to make a difference he should be looking at mechanisms for delivering some of the good ideas that towns people have already proposed. Nairn has spent £47,000 on consultants in the past two years. But what has changed? It can't be right that so much money can be allocated for "consultancy" while none is made available for actions - even simple ones.
I think that what our community needs is a bit more action in representing Nairn and a lot less harping on about independence. SNP, a single issue party.
Graisg - My figures may be too low - but £15k for Charrette; NICE had two lots of £10k; NEI had £12k. No doubt there was a feasibility study for the distillery proposals - maybe another £10k. Oh, and £5k to Nairn River Enterprise. Not included a second amount of £5k to NRE as that was not for consultancy and may yet do something useful.
Anon 9:18. I have no view as to what the Nats could do for our community but the could help our house enormously if they stopped threatening us with yet another divisive referendum. We are still barely talking to each other after the last one.
Follow-up on figures: Charrette - £15k; NICE, two amounts of £10k; NEI, £12k. I'd forgotten £5k to Nairn River Enterprises for consultancy. They had another £5k but that's meant for practical activities. I suspect that the Distillery project would have required a feasibility study - perhaps another £10k. So, maybe £62k or thereabouts.
I cannot help but feel that the best decisions are made locally by local people. Nairnites are a hardy and resourceful bunch. Local folk, who live and work in the town or have the children in school there, know what is best for the town. Not Highland Council. And probably not a politician who is supposed to cover and represent an area the size of some small countries.
Working together, even chipping in if they have to with money, time, skills, know-how or goods/services, is surely the way to go. The next time decisions have to be made (e.g. on the state of the town centre, the condition of the high street, the mending of a small bridge) I'd suggest that a refreshing and cost-effective mode of decision making might be to have a public hustings down the links, rather than the same old faces airing their views at one of these community meetings with ridiculous acronyms, or paying consultants to produce meaningless reports.
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Sort oot the traffic lights Drew min
Nairn : a very busy vibrant town I don't think so. More like a scruffy town with a run down High Street were weeds gum and bird droppings abound. No civic pride in Nairn just look at our neighbouring town of Forres - puts us to shame!
Highland Council organised a Town Charrette two years ago and published an "action plan". It cost £15,000. It set out a vision for Nairn. But it can't be delivered due to a lack of resources - but let's have another consultation anyway. If Drew Hendry wants to make a difference he should be looking at mechanisms for delivering some of the good ideas that towns people have already proposed. Nairn has spent £47,000 on consultants in the past two years. But what has changed? It can't be right that so much money can be allocated for "consultancy" while none is made available for actions - even simple ones.
Wot Anon @ 6:25PM said ^^^^^^^^^
I think that what our community needs is a bit more action in representing Nairn and a lot less harping on about independence. SNP, a single issue party.
Hi Iain, your figures seem to ring a bell or two. Could you give us Gurnistas a breakdown of where the cash is going please?
Graisg - My figures may be too low - but £15k for Charrette; NICE had two lots of £10k; NEI had £12k. No doubt there was a feasibility study for the distillery proposals - maybe another £10k. Oh, and £5k to Nairn River Enterprise. Not included a second amount of £5k to NRE as that was not for consultancy and may yet do something useful.
Anon 9:18.
I have no view as to what the Nats could do for our community but the could help our house enormously if they stopped threatening us with yet another divisive referendum. We are still barely talking to each other after the last one.
Follow-up on figures: Charrette - £15k; NICE, two amounts of £10k; NEI, £12k. I'd forgotten £5k to Nairn River Enterprises for consultancy. They had another £5k but that's meant for practical activities. I suspect that the Distillery project would have required a feasibility study - perhaps another £10k. So, maybe £62k or thereabouts.
Loads of wasted money - suggest a loan from Wonga.com to pay for more consultants reports / it's action on the ground that's required
I cannot help but feel that the best decisions are made locally by local people. Nairnites are a hardy and resourceful bunch. Local folk, who live and work in the town or have the children in school there, know what is best for the town. Not Highland Council. And probably not a politician who is supposed to cover and represent an area the size of some small countries.
Working together, even chipping in if they have to with money, time, skills, know-how or goods/services, is surely the way to go. The next time decisions have to be made (e.g. on the state of the town centre, the condition of the high street, the mending of a small bridge) I'd suggest that a refreshing and cost-effective mode of decision making might be to have a public hustings down the links, rather than the same old faces airing their views at one of these community meetings with ridiculous acronyms, or paying consultants to produce meaningless reports.
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