Cllr Peter Saggers has said recently that we have to accept that parking charges are coming to Nairn. Parking charges are coming to Nairn because Peter, Laurie and Tom voted for them when it came to the the minutiae of the last Highland Council Budget.
It would seem that
parking charges will come to the Highland Council owned spaces behind
the High Street but what about the Library car park which they lease
and also the spaces owned by the Co-op? Then there is the land in
Nairn presently used for parking which is owned by the Common Good
Fund such as the Links, Maggot and Harbour areas.
We believe that
Highland Council have a tradition of accepting the will of the four
Nairn Councillors when it comes to Nairn Common Good issues: even
though the entire 80 Highland Councillors are trustees of the fund.
So we believe that
Nairn Councillors should simply say that it is not the will of the
people of Nairn for parking charges to be levied on Common Good Lands
and as representitives of the community they cannot support the
introduction of these charges. Then it is up to Highland Council to
accept that or decide if they wish to act like a colonial government
and seize complete control of Nairn's Common Good assets.
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| Nairn Library Car Park, not the propterty of Highland Council but could they still install meters? |
Three out of the four Nairn councillors made no attempt to stop the parking charges, they voted for them. They don't seem to represent the people of Nairn, just Inverness council.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure our councillors will argue that Highland Council needs to raise revenue. I could be wrong but I suspect many Nairnites would be happy for the town's library too close to stave off parking fees?
These are tough times and budgets in every council are being slashed in all sorts of ways. A Nairn toilet is next
The infrastructure of our town will be chipped away. Closing services doesn't go hand in hand with attracting tourists (who might be less bothered by parking charges than Nairnites). High Street shops teeter on the brink, mainly serving a fading older population as younger folk are attracted by the bright lights and choices of Elgin and Inverness. If charges hit the like of the Co-opie car park then those with cars will head in further droves to Sainsbury's.
Online shopping grows. The likes of Amazon who pay very little tax are often supported by governments as they provide poorly paid jobs and keep folk in some sort of work. Their profits are huge. Ethics don't come into it folk just want cheap shopping.
Arguably we've lost the battle of the High St. It's sad demise is already underway with a record number of shops closing in recent weeks
Implementing car parking charges will only speed that up leaving empty shops and in some cases remote communities without stores. Bus services are also being cut in many areas meaning that for some rural communities you're stuffed
We have short sighted councillors who promise one thing and happily do another. How did we get into this mess?