It was
some ten minutes into the conversation however when Highland Council
member Peter Saggers said something that quite surprised, even
shocked, some folk present. It's best to start perhaps with the
contribution from Joan Noble that precipitated his comment.
Joan
drew herself to the attention of the Chair Sheena Baker and then
spoke: “ I think this links in to the work that Peter is
progressing about having a proper chair of the Leisure and Recreation
budget. I really don't think that voluntary groups in Nairn should be
raising all this, be given the responsibility for raising money and
maintaining and this and that and the next thing. When, in fact, our
Leisure and Recreation budget is actually laughable in Nairn. We have
all these figures of comparative spend and Nairn has way, way below
the spend of any other area in Highland. Now that is absolutely not
right and I would really ask yourself (Joan was speaking to Tom
Heggie) and Peter and our other two councillors to start questioning
why we don't know what our per capita Leisure and Rec budget should
be and why we are not getting a Leisure and Recreation budget. I mean
basically, we get a fraction of other areas.
Now I don't think the volunteers and PTAs and Nairn Play and everybody else should be expected to get the funding and do all the spade work and everything else for facilities that are a statutory duty of the local authority. I feel that very, very strongly, I mean it can't be a case we haven't got the money we are not going to do it. The money is actually sloshing around, Easter Ross and the West Coast and all sorts of places and they are getting lots and lots of Leisure and Rec spend.”
Joan
then noticed that Peter seemed to be amused and said she would send
him the spreadsheet. She continued: “we know exactly where it is
going, and that's our money that is going to other areas while we are
being asked to form voluntary groups to do this and that and the next
thing, and I mean you are talking about the Riverside, the swings
there have been chained up, well they've disappeared for two years.
Nobody's put in a couple of swings, now for goodness sake. Surely we
can afford a couple of swings. This is the sort of thing that is just
shameful. It's absolutely not right and it has to be sorted out we
need a fair share budget of Leisure and Rec spending for Nairn and I
would ask all our Highland Councillors to be on a campaign for that
because it is very, very unfair for folks in Nairn, especially the
youngsters.”
Sheena
said she was seeing a lot of nodding heads and asked Peter if he
wished to respond. He said:
“I was smiling a minute ago because I believe that the reason why Easter Ross and the West Coast may get more attention is because the political background there is more amenable to the powers that be. I think Nairn is seen as a different kettle of fish and we do need to make sure that we endeavour to get the proper funding. And the area which I am looking at at the moment is the question of the amount of money that the Highland Council charges the Common Good Fund for grass cutting and such like. That is a work in progress at the moment.”
Gurn opinion. For many Peter's comments will simply confirm the belief that Nairn does not get its fair share from Highland Council and is even discriminated against by the local authority. Thank you Peter for your insight into how things really work at Glenurquhart Road.
19 comments:
I completely agree with Councillor Saggers. The point he is making is that the atmosphere created by many of the Community Councillors in Nairn is so aggressive and negative, with their primary enemy being Highland Council. It is the same council across the Highlands, with the variable factor the attitude of the individual communities. Perhaps certain community councillor's need to remember that every time you point your finger, 3 are pointing back. Maybe they need to think long and hard about why Nairn is viewed like this and realise their part it this state of affairs. They seem to be never happier when trying to show off with flexing their superior minds in the name of standing up for Nairn, but the question remains what has this actually achieved? Stopping development in not a good thing. Nairn is a relatively prosperous part of the country so it is fair, in my opinion, that other areas that are not as fortunate will need more help. If you though the opposite then people/areas that pay the most tax should get the greatest share of services - that is not how a fair and responsible economy operates no matter if you are on the left or the right of politics. What the Community Councils needs to grasp is that Nairn is a great success story that has been supported by Highland Council along with strong groups of Nairn folk that do lots of outstanding work in the background with no need to shout about it because of a deep fondness for this special place. So what if a village on the west cost has something that we don't. Spend time to look at what we have and you will realise that we have a lot more than most, in so many ways. In short, the Community Council's have no power or real cash - the two Nairn based CC have just become outdated talking shops that need to realise that everyone else, including Highland Council, have moved on for the better!
"Nairn is a relatively prosperous part of the country so it is fair, in my opinion, that other areas that are not as fortunate will need more help." It may look like that when you drive through and for many people that is how things are in Nairn but there are also plenty of people struggling to keep their economic heads above water - a lot of people in work struggling too. Nairn is fine if you have money and spare cash. And Joan is right - that wonderful council can't even replace two children's swings at the Riverside after how many years now?
I agree with anon. We need to work together. Negativity creates nothing. Imagine what could happen in and for Nairn if all the energy, brains, enthusiasm that currently criticises and challenges THC came together and worked with the Council instead.
It is disappointing, but not surprising, that the view persists that Highland Council is hostile or unsympathetic to Nairn. This seems to be based on the unfounded assertion that Nairn is somehow "difficult" or "uncooperative".
It is of course true that the community of Nairn and its representatives including the CCs, take a keen and informed interest in how local services are managed and delivered, and how local planning is progressed. The fact that there may be differing views - and sometimes criticism - is a healthy sign of engagement. It shows how much local people care about the town. It is not a reason for the Council to be hostile.
The really disturbing feature of this story is however not the description of the Council's attitude (which is nothing new). It is the fact that our own Councillors - in this case Peter Saggers - seems to believe, and to reinforce and perpetuate, this misleading and damaging perception.
As a Nairn Councillor he should be standing up and speaking out in support and defence of the people of Nairn. He should not be mindlessly echoing the unjustified prejudices of those who sit in Council headquarters. And he certainly should not be bad-mouthing those whom he was elected to represent.
As one of the targets in the response of Anonymous I am happy to engage in the debate.
The problem I need to overcome is the contempt I have for someone who makes gratuitously offensive comments and support an equally offensive conclusion that it is appropriate to punish the people of Nairn because the elected Community Councils in attempting to do their Statutory Duty are pricking the comfort zones of Highland Council.
The contempt is in my view a function of simple cowardice.
How else can you explain or justify firing from the shadows under the cloak of anonymity?
If you do not have enough moral fiber and confidence in your views to identify yourself why do you think we should have any respect for your opinions?
The whole issue of the lack of local democracy in Nairn and across most of Highland, is simply because of the Tories.
Some of us Nairnshire Greybeards remember the early 1990s. We had a Nairn District Council and the Common Good assets were within their control.
The Conservative and Unionist Party were in full control at Westminster.
There was no Scottish Parliament at Holyrood to protect Scotland.
These Tories abolished Nairn District Council.
These Tories created The Highland Council.
Every Highland MP argued against their proposals.
The vast majority of Scotland's MPs argued against their proposals.
The Right Honourable Tory Secretary of State for Scotland was Ian Lang and in January 1994, he said in the House of Commons - "I know that the hon. Gentleman and some of his hon. Friends disagree on the detail of what the Highland region should look like. Our proposal will give the most efficient, the most accountable and the strongest local government that we can create for that very important part of Scotland."
Whenever there is an election - everyone in Nairnshire should tell Peter Saggers, and Sir Edward Mountain and Douglas Ross - where to go in the politest of fashions!
Never, ever trust a Conservative and Unionist politician.
To Anonymous @10:49 I do not agree with your opinion on Community Councillors.
There are two who live in my area who are really nice. They have helped me in lockdown, as I am a single parent. The man fixed my we boys bike for him, and the lady contacted the Council about the lighting not being on when we were all heading home from Millbank school in the dark before Christmas last year. The lights were not coming on until after 4:30
Perhaps they could get the rest of the lights fixed in fisher town too please.
a million quid spend on town clock tower ,,,,,hundreds of thousands revamping courthouse
about 7 years ago installing lifts etc,then closed it and cases put to inverness castle,and then,£96.000 spent on a useless pedestrian crossing on high st,and highland region think thats money well spent,rather than spend a few thousand for playparks.
the mind boggles,monkeys could do a better job for a few bananas rather than the thousands of quid the cooncillers get in wages and expenses and other perks.
vote the good ones in and boot the other ones out for good.
am.nae pleased.
Bill Young @ 2:17 PM
Couldn't agree more Sir. Perhaps the first contributor is peeved and panicked at another article on the Gurn which divulges the minutes from Ward Business Meetings. Discussions of potential disposal of even more Common Good assets coming down the road.
Dare I suggest he or she may even be a Community Councillor themselves?
I'm still astonished that Cllr Saggers got elected at all, given that he doesn't even live in the town. Perhaps next election we will get a representatives from Dingwall, Ullapool and Wick to join him.
Of the ten (10) Play Parks in Nairn - three (3) are closed - perhaps the highland Council or their representatives in Nairn can explain why.
https://www.highland.gov.uk/directory_record/1451759/riverside_nairn
Play areas - Riverside, Nairn
Park name
Riverside
Town
Nairn
Status
This play park is closed
https://www.highland.gov.uk/directory_record/1451760/east_beech_caravan_site_nairn
Play areas - East Beech caravan site, Nairn
Park name
East Beech caravan site
Town
Nairn
Status
This play park is closed
https://www.highland.gov.uk/directory_record/1451758/birch_road_nairn
Play areas - Birch Road, Nairn
Park name
Birch Road
Town
Nairn
Status
This play park is closed
James where can I find details of the grant you mentioned? Deleted it for now but would like to follow up.
@Anon 8.41 Peter Saggers stood and was elected. The taboo of candidates not living in Nairn was broken. Perhaps we will see more candidates from elsewhere next time too.
Graisg,
I will endeavour to find the grant information contained within FOI Ward Business Meeting minutes I have at my disposal, will get back to you on this. However the awarding of this grant was reported in the Nairnshire.
Graisg
Details of several grants discussed at WBMs including one from the Ward Discretionary Budget for £6000
NAIRN WARD BUSINESS MEETING
ACTION NOTE FROM THE MEETING HELD ON: Friday 15th February 2019 at 9.15am, Provost’s Room, Nairn Court House.
PRESENT: Cllr. Laurie Fraser (LF), Cllr. Liz MacDonald (LM), Cllr. Peter Saggers (PS), Cllr. Tom Heggie (TH), Liz Cowie (LC) - Ward
Manager and Lynne Moore (LMo) – Business Support.
IN ATTENDANCE: Robin Pope – Policy & Programmes Manager, John Allan – Lighting & Communications Manager and Stuart Duncan
Property Manager.
1.6 Nairn PLAY - update The Davidson Trust had some questions about the application the group had submitted, but there has been no further update.
The £6000 contribution from the WDB (Ward Discretionary Budget) will have to be spent by March 2020.
NAIRN WARD BUSINESS MEETING
ACTION NOTE FROM THE MEETING HELD ON: Thursday 2nd May 2019 at 12.30pm, Provost’s Room, Nairn Court House.
PRESENT: Cllr. Laurie Fraser (LF), Cllr. Liz MacDonald (LM), Cllr. Peter Saggers (PS), Cllr. Tom Heggie (TH), Liz Cowie (LC) - Ward
Manager and Lynne Moore (LMo) – Business Support.
IN ATTENDANCE: Lorna Fisher, Nairn Access Panel
1.6 Nairn PLAY – meeting to be set up LM arranging a meeting to progress this. Report back to next WBM.
Action LM to liaise with LMo to arrange a meeting with Nairn PLAY.
4.0 Ward Discretionary Budget 2018/19
4.1 New Applications:Nairn PLAY – Skate Park Improvements As discussed in item 1.6
Members are happy to support funding applications
NAIRN WARD BUSINESS MEETING
ACTION NOTE FROM THE MEETING HELD ON: Friday 11th October 2019 at 9.00am, in the Conference Room at Nairn Community Centre.
PRESENT: Cllr. Laurie Fraser (LF), Cllr. Liz MacDonald (LM), Cllr. Peter Saggers (PS), Cllr. Tom Heggie (TH), Ewen McIntosh (EM) – Localism and Engagement Coordinator and Lynne Moore (LMo) – Business Support.
IN ATTENDANCE: Allan Maguire – Head of Development & Regeneration, Louise Clark – Nairn CAB, Steve Walsh - HLH Chief Executive, Robin Pope – Policy & Programmes Manager, John MacLennan – Senior Service Support Officer, David Mudie – Area Planning Manager, Richard Gerring – Transport Planning Manager, Bryan Stout – Principal Engineer, Fergus Ewing – MSP and Scot Rail representatives.
1.6 Nairn PLAY - update LM asked Louise Clark (LC) if the Davidson Trust had approved the application from Nairn Play for equipment for the Riverside. She understood the application
had been approved by email for £9,000 but she would check and let LM know.
Action LC to update LM.
"@Anon 8.41 Peter Saggers stood and was elected. The taboo of candidates not living in Nairn was broken. Perhaps we will see more candidates from elsewhere next time too."
I can't see this as a positive potential development.
James, in discussion on playing fields and and play equipment at the NWSCC meeting on Monday night Tom Heggie said:
We are trying to help Nairn Play not to do the plyaing fields, which is what you are talking about team sports, but play equipment. Now down at the Riverside we've tried to support Nairn Play to do that and we did allocate money but they haven't used it so we've had to kind of use it elsewhere. So we're in a situation where we have tried to help some but the sustainability and maintenance and health and safety apparently kicks in on this but it is worthy of exploration and I will see what we can do in response to that particular request. (Bill Young's call for a review of all facilities)
Hope that helps you James. Perhaps Nairn Play might wish to respond personally to you if you make further inquiries.
I am loving these minutes Ward Business Meeting minutes you have posted, where are you getting them from? I am sure there are some people who will be infuriated by this.
Can we have more please?
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