Year 3, Week 38
Ardersier Port, Delnies and sewage, Delivery Plan, D&E Coaches, Nairn Finance Office, development on Show Field ...
My apologies but this is another long one: there’s a lot going on right now.
Ardersier Port
Haventus, the owners of Ardersier Port, briefed me last week that they are in the process of applying for planning permission to expand the site. In the aerial photograph below the area outlined in blue is their current site boundary and the areas outlined in orange are to be added if they get planning permission.
This will give them yet more capacity, assuming they can find customers, to bring more jobs to the area and in that regard this week they announced their first customer which is Cerulean Winds. Their first project will be a 1GW wind farm in the central North Sea, approximately 100km offshore, that is targeting first power between 2028 and 2029.
I’m also told that Haventus are in negotiation with Transport Scotland about building a new roundabout on the A96 at the end of the road down to the port, so that will be two new roundabouts to be built along the A96 soon, the other being for Delnies. Talking of which …
Delnies and sewage
I attended a meeting of Nairn West & Suburban Community Council (NW&SCC) this week as well as a Common Good Engagement Group meeting last week at both of which the issue of the sewage from Delnies was discussed and it was suggested by a resident at the former that I should write about this.
Of course I did so in part last week so I’m not going to repeat that but the essence of that post is that despite my best efforts the sewage from the new development at Delnies will be going to the Nairn sewage treatment works (STW) and not Ardersier STW.
It will probably get there via a sewer which will go around the edge of the field at Sandown owned by the Nairn Common Good Fund and will join the existing network in Altonburn Road. If that’s the developer’s preferred route then, as the chair of NW&SCC pointed out at their meeting, this can happen whether or not Highland Council grants a servitude to let them do so as Scottish Water can override the landowner’s wishes.
As you may well know we already have a problem with sewage in Nairn because at its heart it’s an old “combined” sewage system where in older parts of town the rainwater, mainly from road drains and roof gutters, flows into the sour drain and goes to the Nairn STW. At times of heavy rain this overflows due to inadequate capacity and goes into both Alton Burn and the River Nairn where the pipe under the Merryton Bridge (commonly known as the “poo bridge”) is not big enough to cope.
The problem we have is that, despite this, Scottish Water continue to allow new connections west of the river, of which Delnies is the latest and biggest, so making matters worse.
I have encouraged NW&SCC to write to Scottish Water expressing their concern and to ask what they are doing to tackle the existing problems with our sewage network, how they expect the system to cope with the addition of Delnies, and whether they will allow any future developments west of the river before they’ve upgraded their network.
You might want to do so too. Contact details here.
Council Delivery Plan
The council has a Delivery Plan to deliver savings and investment across Highland over the next three years and there’s a series of videos now online looking at aspects of this.
Here’s the fourth which is on Corporate Solutions which talks about providing a better online service and also a better service for those who don’t want to go online, work to improve IT service within the council itself, the TerraTracker programme to identify precisely what buildings and land the council does own (for example I discovered this week using this that the council owns the building that Specsavers is in), and changes to the council’s management structure which are already well advanced.
D&E Coaches
The council announced this week that, following a period of negotiation and due diligence, it intends to acquire the entire shareholding of D&E Coaches Limited.
Provision of home to school transport has caused significant budget pressures in recent years and the council has already started buying its own buses, two of which serve Nairn schools and then provide public bus services around Nairn and into Inverness via Cawdor and Culloden through the day, and this is already saving the council money.
The acquisition of the company will enable the council to accelerate provision of public transport services in the area, achieve operational cost efficiencies, and reduce the risk of future contract cost increases.
Nairn Finance Office
Nairn Finance Office, in the central car park, has been surplus to requirements for over a year now and so the council intends to dispose of it by sale or rent.
This building, 4 and 6 Courthouse Lane, and often know locally as the “Italianate building”. It is grade B listed and it does need some work done on it, which will complicate matters for whoever takes it on next.
I mentioned back in October 2023 that the council had two options: it could transfer it to a local organisation by way of a Community Asset Transfer or it could dispose of it on the open market and it’s now starting to actively market the property. You can find details here.
Development on Farmers Showfield
A proposed development of a new bowling club house, two greens, and car park at the Lodgehill Road end of the Showfield has been the subject of much debate this week, both for and against, with about 200 comments, on the Nairn Rocks!! Facebook group.
I am not going to express a view on this as it will be coming to the South Planning Applications Committee, which I chair, but can I repeat what I'm saying to people who have contacted me about this which is that it you do have views, either for or against this application, you should express them by going to this page on the council web site, clicking on the "Comments" tab, and following the instructions there.
Alternatively, if that's easier for you, you can email eplanning@highland.gov.uk or post your comments to ePlanning, eProcessing Centre, The Highland Council, Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, IV3 5NX. Please remember to quote the application number 24/04986/FUL if you use either of these routes.
No other method that those described above will result in your comments being considered by officers or councillors deciding the application.
Planning applications
The following new applications were logged since I last posted:
24/04986/FUL - Land 55M NW Of Giverny, Lodgehill Road, Nairn - Erection of bowling club house, two greens, car park
To find details search on the reference number on the planning portal where you can also find details on how to comment.