With River CC in abeyance then that is the case, if you wish to take your concerns to a public meeting and get an airing in a forum where Highland Councillors and the press will be present then you only have one option just now until the Community Council elections in November when sufficient candidates may come forward to allow Nairn River CC to be restored. Tonight at the regular meeting of West and Suburban CC however there was an invitation to all those remaining River members (left in limbo by the decision of Highland Council to shut them down) to join West and Suburban as non-voting associate members. A decision that, for now, effectively gives us a body that has representatives from most areas of the town.
There was talk too of the future of Community Councils in Nairn and whether sufficient people could be attracted to the forthcoming elections this winter, particularly younger people who, it was mentioned, seem happy to comment on issues on social media but unwilling to take the further step of attending meetings, let alone stand for membership. One option for after the elections might be another attempt at a single council officially representing Nairn or a return to the idea of joint meetings.
There was a lot of stuff that folk might have found interesting tonight, perhaps the CC should experiment with a live Facebook broadcast to enlighten folk of how issues are discussed and how contributions can be made. Tom Heggie and Peter Saggers (two Highland Councillors) present were
asked about a number of issues such as car parking charges (nothing yet), the failure to come up with a new flood prevention scheme
(nothing new yet). News emerged that Highland Council are talking
with the BID about a deep-clean of the High Street and surrounding
areas. The CC in conversation too with the BID about the nascent
improvement organisation paying for £4,000 for the installation of
the Christmas Lights this year (a price that Highland Council will be
demanding). Talk too of the BID taking the fireworks cash from the CC
in the future and then organising a display but that could be some way off.
 |
| Picture from Dec 2012 - concern expressed by Community Councillors over the lack of action on flood prevention surveys and works for Nairn although we are high on the list for action |
And there was talk of
the A96 bypass inquiry results being with Scottish Ministers by the
summer (that'll be starting soon no doubt). The Courthouse works have
gone over budget according to Tom Heggie but the Council will be
paying out for that. There were one or two other things mentioned as
well and no doubt the Leopold Street Thunderer will have some details
for interested citizens to digest next week.
It was an hour and a
half of the issues affecting the town, very interesting, it's all we
have in the way of a democratic forum for the town – will
sufficient people come forward in November to allow one or both of
the town's Community Councils to continue?
PS only just seen some comments on previous articles, they have been published now - used to get an e-mail notification when they came through but that has stopped for some reason. Apologies for the delay.
4 comments:
Of course, one Comunity Council for Nairn would mean a tasty saving for the Highland Council.
Yes I agree it was a very interesting evening once the antagonistic comments from so called representatives of the Town at The Highland Council were out of the way. Going forward, whether it be one or two Community Councils for Nairn, unless some respect is shown towards the Community Councillors and even towards the Scottish Government, by at least one of THC Councillors present last evening, then there will probably be no change in the levels of trust on which to build good relationships.
Hello
When and where is the next Community Council meeting please.
Was one last week I believe anon, info in Nairnshire perhaps, next one no idea, perhaps ad will appear in paper too beforehand.
Post a Comment