Week 21
Vandalism, speeding, community councils, and teaching jobs ...
Vandalism
We seem to be having a bit of a surge in vandalism and anti-social behaviour around Nairn at the moment judging by the reports I’m getting.
The most significant is the toilets on The Links where both the ladies and gents toilets are currently closed due to significant vandalism (I've had a full report but I'll not share it here as it's pretty gross). Work is being done now with with the aim of re-opening them in a few days.
The toilets in Falconer Lane (i.e. in the city centre car park) have also been vandalised, although less so and they remain open for now ... but the dispensers are broken so there's no toilet paper or towels so they’re less than ideal. Again work is being done on those.
I’ve also had reports of roof running on the shops in the high street with damage being done to gutters and drain pipes and also damage to gravestones in the old cemetery.
There’s new graffiti on bins at Riverside Park and there’s been an incident with teenagers abusing the new equipment and verbally abusing members of the public.
My concern is that people are not reporting incidents to the police and that’s what we need to be doing if we want police to concentrate their efforts in the area. So if you witness vandalism or other anti-social behaviour then please report it to the police on 101 or, if you want to remain anonymous, phone Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Speeding in Auldearn and elsewhere
On Tuesday, alongside residents of Auldearn, I met with police Divisional Commander Trickett and his team plus officers from Highland Council to talk about problems of speeding through Auldearn and the pressures arising from people using Auldearn and Cawdor as an unofficial Nairn bypass at busy times.
Some actions were agreed, mainly on Highland Council to provide more finely grained speeding data and also to consider turning the zebra crossing into a speed hump. There’s also consideration being given to reducing the speed limit in Lethen Road to 20mph to match High Street.
We are meeting again to discuss this issue later in the year and I’m also looking into options to tackle speeding issues elsewhere in the ward, but more on that later.
East Nairnshire Community Council election
Nominations are again being invited from people seeking election to eight Highland community councils across the Highland Council area including, for a second time, East Nairnshire Community Council. This community council covers a vast area as shown in this map but most of it is sparsely populated so, if you do live in the area, then please consider stepping up.
Community Councils are voluntary organisations that express the views and concerns of local people within their area across a wide range of issues from new buildings and roads to local services and facilities. For more information, including how to apply, go here.
Teaching jobs
Nairn Academy is looking to recruit three new teachers to teach music, business education, and physical education - the last being part time. For more details go here.