Highland Council election for Nairn and Cawdor - It's on Thursday May 5th - Vote early and vote often folks...

 ...in fact, up to 8 times in order of preference. There will be at least 3 new faces when the electoral dust settles and here's wishing them well (and also urging them to go flat out in getting the best for Nairn). 

 So make your minds up folks, ask the candidates about anything that is bothering you and don't forget to go to the ballot box and to all those who have already sent in a postal vote - well done!

We're going to take a break until we see how things pan out and come back a bit afterwards if things turn out on the brighter side for Nairn.

The Gurn twitter account will probably still continue and if you are looking for things going on in town and a little bit of debate then we recommend the Nairn Our Town our views facebook page. Let's make the most of our local democracy folks - we need to work together to get the best for our community.

Tweets by GurnNurn

"Can I start by addressing the question raised again in the GURN about diverse groups in Nairnshire and the excuse rolled out by HC and HIE that they cannot work with Nairnshire because of this"

 Last night at the Nairn West and Suburban Community Council meeting, Alastair Noble, the interim chair of the CC spoke of the content of a recent Gurn article in which we asked: " In the depths of one Highland Council candidate's latest blog post is their something we should all pay serious attention to?" That article is available here. 

Here is Alastairs opening address to the meeting: "Welcome to this NW&SCC meeting

We are getting ever closer to normal meetings- so a warm welcome to all and many thanks for attending

Can anybody declare any conflict of interests before we start

Welcome to members of the public and in particular to some of the candidates for the HC elections. As Chair I will try and be as fair and impartial as possible

Can I therefore ask the candidates not to use this meeting as a husting and mainly just listen

Can I also ask members of the public to keep their questions to the space at the end of the meeting.

Can I ask everybody just to introduce themselves?

Also, we welcome Phil Stewart who is interested in becoming a co-opted member. The start of many more I hope.

Can I start by addressing the question raised again in the GURN about diverse groups in Nairnshire and the excuse rolled out by HC and HIE that they cannot work with Nairnshire because of this.

In my extensive experience, Nairnshire has some of the best joined up working anywhere in the UK.

We have as examples

the Community Centre an amazing example of local management and control

the Sports Club again locally exceptionally well run and used

The Integrated Hospital site rated as the best model in the UK for health and social care

Cantraybridge College a unique college for students with disability

Keep Nairn Colourful quietly working away to keep the town looking attractive

Hydrotherapy pool

NICE /Team Hamish with massive popular support/Splashpad etc

Music Nairn/ Cinema Nairn/Book and Arts Festival

Golf /football/ athletic/rowing /sailing/boxing/ swimming/cricket/bowling/angling clubs etc

2 world class championship golf courses

Internationally important wetlands and woodlands

Wonderful historic buildings and history

Allotments/apple growers

Sustainable heating projects around the Lido and swimming pool

Apologies if I have missed you out

So, who is spreading this rumour and most importantly why?

Could it be because Nairnshire is not getting its Fair Share Budgets and is seen as a cash cow for HC?

Could it be that the CCs are asking the right questions about the Common Good, Developer Contributions, closed secret meetings, SPSO Finding, bad planning, lack of infrastructure, poor school property -I could go on

Nairn Residents Concern Group played a massive role supporting HC decisions in the appeals at Sandown and Nairn South. They still provide invaluable input around planning issues. We have our own population / Common Good /housing needs Guru!

The Local Jobs network has been led by members of both CCs and has been a very useful information source.

It clearly has identified that Nairnshire needs more local jobs and working with the big local businesses and employers we must prioritise industrial sites and deliver more local jobs. The way forward is the Economic Development Forum and Nairn getting its Fair Share recurrent revenue budgets from HC and NHS Highland. HIE must play its part in Nairnshire moving forward

We have a shared vision of Nairnshire as a green sustainable place to live, work, retire to and holiday in.

We can deliver this exciting way forward. Working together we can use the Local Place Planning mechanism to deliver our priorities in sorting our infrastructure first -This must be locally driven with NICE as our Community Enterprise Body leading

Priorities are well known and essential before any new additional housing

by-pass -essential now we need fixed time scale for delivery and cost

Flood risk/Sewage/Harbour need doing now

Town centre regeneration including housing and more businesses and jobs

School properties starting with a New Academy and new primaries as needed

We must now work with our New Councillors and deliver for Nairnshire

Both CCs and I am sure the other Nairnshire CC s are very happy to do the work and deliver this exciting future

We have a very clear set of priorities and so much work has already been done.

Let’s just now deliver it together

Dr Alastair L Noble MBE

Interim Chair NW&SC"

Further appeal for information relating to murder of Alistair Wilson

"Detectives investigating the murder of Alistair Wilson at his home in Nairn in 2004 are appealing for information about a local planning application they believe may be significant to the enquiry.

Mr Wilson had objected to a large decking area outside the Havelock Hotel, opposite his home in Crescent Road, shortly before he was shot dead on his doorstep."  

More here on the Police Scotland site.

In the depths of one Highland Council candidate's latest blog post is their something we should all pay serious attention to?

 "[...] but Nairn in particular has long suffered from different groups with different agendas spending a lot of time muttering to themselves about how dreadful other groups are rather than engaging in open discussion [...]" 

That wee quote above is in an article written by Paul Oldham, you can read it in its enterity  here.   Is that scenario familiar to you or only just slightly so? Time for us all to take a good look at how we do things and to try and move forward in a collective, better, frame of mind?

There's probably never been a better chance. Whatever happens there will be at least three different councillors to represent the Nairn and Cawdor ward on May 6th. No doubt there will be one or two bigger issues that will need their entrails examined to a certain extent but we will have a good opportunity folks, let's not squander it. Let's get Nairn's future right! 

All the best and vote early and vote often on May 5th - any 4 from 8 will succeed and have the responsibility of representing Nairn and serving this community. 

Another wee blether with Independent Candidate Michael Green - Highland Council Election, Nairn and Cawdor Ward on the 5th May

Nairn Waste Busters update and a time for new ideas - Michael outlines some ideas that he wishes to take forward if the electorate are so minded to vote him in on Thursday May 5th. 

Blossom day at the Sandown allotments orchard and fruit tree nursery. Register with Green Hive if you would like to accompany them on their visit on Saturday 30th of April.

Blossom day at the Sandown allotments orchard and fruit tree nursery. Register with Green Hive if you would like to accompany them on their visist on Saturday 30th of April.  Please not, parking not available at Sandown Allotments - Green Hive hoping to arrange transport however.

Come and join us for a special blossom-filled tour of the Sandown Allotment Orchard with Des on the 30th of April, find out more and RSVP below! @GurnNurn #events #communityorchard #communityfood #appleblossomhttps://t.co/hPz1TAaEX7

— Green Hive (@Nairnsgreenhive) April 19, 2022

Nairn West and Suburban Community Council meeting - Nairn Community and Arts Centre Mon 25th April 7.00 pm

Gurnnurn.com understands that several other issues concerning the local authority will also be debated under "matters arising".

Click on image below to enlarge if having trouble viewing. 

 

 

The next public meeting of Nairn River Community Council will be held on Wednesday 20th April at 7.30 pm on Zoom.

 The NRCC site states: "Members of the Public wishing to attend the above Meeting should send an email to: nrcc.online@outlook.com including their name and postcode.

The invitations will be sent close to the meeting date."

Details of the agenda here

"Vaccine service to return to Nairn after fears patients would need to travel to Inverness"

"But NHS Highland says a clinic will now be held in Nairn.

A spokesman said: “Inverness is currently the closest vaccination centre to Nairn, but we continue to review our capacity and are actively establishing plans to hold clinics in other locations, such as Nairn.

“There will be a clinic in Nairn next week and details will be published on our website shortly.” 

More on the Press and Journal site here. 

"I think the Nairn Common Good deserves a book of its own!" - Independent candidate Michael Green

The Nairn Common Good Fund and the problems associated with it in recent years may well feature in the deliberations of many voters when they go to the polls in the Highland Council election on May 5th. We had a wee blether with Independent candidate Michael Green.

Withdrawal of vaccination services from Nairn and Nairnshire: an "unfortunate, discriminatory and illogical decision" - copy of letter from NWSCC to NHS Highland

Pam Dudek

Chief Executive

NHS Highland 31/03/22

Dear Pam

Re: Withdrawal of vaccination services from Nairn and Nairnshire

Following discussion at our recent meeting, we write to express dismay and concern that vaccination services have been withdrawn from Nairn and Nairnshire, a healthcare population of around 16,000 people.

Apparently Nairn residents are now expected to attend a central Inverness shopping centre for all vaccinations, necessitating a 40+ mile round trip and parking fees. This translates into thousands of unnecessary journeys at a time of climate emergency.

Prior to this Nairn Healthcare have given a superb service in Nairn, especially during the pandemic when over 800 vaccinations were being carried out daily.

This withdrawal of service will affect especially the elderly and also young parents who can surely expect that their babies will be vaccinated locally not subjected to several expensive and lengthy journeys for a very routine procedure. The decision is bound to affect uptake, and brings into question NHS Highland’s commitment to equality of access and ‘levelling up’ disadvantaged groups.

We ask that there is a very rapid reconsideration of this unfortunate, discriminatory and illogical decision,

Yours sincerely

Alastair L. Noble (interim chair)

 

Greyhound and Shire Horse rescue sanctuary relocating from the North of England to Easter Hardmuir

A post on the Tia Rescue Facebook page reads:

"To be honest I don’t know where to start, so I’m just going to say it.

We are moving to Scotland.

We have managed to buy a farm & hopefully secure the future for Tia. For two years we have tried to find a farm in Yorkshire but financially stood no chance, especially now with closing the shops. I’m so relieved we didn’t get another mortgage..

During the lockdown we did okay, we managed to keep the animals safe. We also had massive support and donations of food and we hardly bought any food for the animals for two years. Once again, I thank each and every last one of you. Other rescues were not so lucky." More here

Radical Rural Housing - Could the "smart clachan" idea work in Nairnshire?

 "There is a clear desire amongst people to refocus on community, place, wellbeing, smaller scale and climate-friendly development. The development of housing which offers models for mutual support – such as co-housing, collective self build and mutual home ownership cooperatives – can create frameworks for these more mindful and cooperative forms of living. "

That paragraph alone gives food for thought on what we could do on Sandown perhaps? A very interesting article on rural housing and the problems facing the young here.

Candiate writes blog article on Nairn By-pass

SNP candiate for the Highland Council election on May 5th writes: "People are, unsurprisingly, already asking me questions about my view on dualling the A96 and the Nairn bypass and how I’m going to make it happen." More here

A wee Blether with Emma Roddick MSP - in town to visit Sandown Allotments, Nairn Museum and Pam Bochel who started the "Keep Nairn Library in the town centre petition"

Petition to keep Nairn Library in the town centre - a short interview with Pam Bochel

 

The petition is online here.

Folk in Nairn having to go to Inverness for Spring Covid boosters

We've heard recently of elderly people having to travel to Inverness to get their Spring covid boosters. We understand too the issue was discussed at the recent meeting of Nairn West and Suburban Community Council where concern was expressed at how this would affect the take-up rate in the community. 

Here at the Gurn we just feel that this doesn't make sense at all - what is the point of thousands of people having to make journies in the Inverness direction when it has been shown by Nairn Health Care how it can be done effectively locally? Environmentally too it gives cause for concern, all those journies by car on an already overcrowded road. The worry, indeed, is that many won't bother or won't be able to afford the journey. 

We decided to contact NHS Highland for a statement and a spokesperson told the Gurn:

"Those being invited for their Spring Booster are being asked to attend vaccination centres being run by NHS Highland. This will allow us to vaccinate a large number of the population in a few key locations allowing us to efficiently use the vaccination team’s resources.

Inverness is currently the closest vaccination centre to Nairn but we continue to review our capacity and are actively establishing plans to hold clinics in other locations, such as Nairn." 

So hopefully things will change soon. Constituents have raised this issue with Emma Roddick MSP so perhaps more information will emerge shortly. 

 

Music Nairn. Clare Hammond at 7.30 pm Friday 8th April at Nairn Community and Arts Centre

 

A question for those candidates standing under a Independent label for the Highland Council election in the Nairn and Cawdor ward. If you were a member of the Highland Council administration and you are asked to vote for something that is not in the best interests of Nairn, what will you do?"

A question for those candidates standing under a Independent label for the Highland Council election in the Nairn and Cawdor ward. If you were a member of the Highland Council administration and you are asked to vote for something that is not in the best interests of Nairn, what will you do?"

Two responses so far, from Michael Green: 

"Do what I have always done, put Nairn first"

And from Laurie Fraser: 

 "Easy one, Nairn comes first. But remember some polices do verry little damage to Nairn and we have to take the best interests of everyone in the Highlands. Some times its in the eye of the beholder."

 

Keep Nairn Library in the Town Centre Petition

 Here's Pam Bochel's petition - Well done Pam! 'S math a rinn thu!

Keep Nairn Library in the town centre.