Week 8

Buses, the bypass, and short term lets ...

It’s been a busy week followed by a birthday weekend which is why this week’s post is a little late. My apologies.

Buses

Further to my previous posts about changes to the bus service to Inverness we’re not being picked on here in Nairn and people all across Highland are equally unhappy with their bus service to the extent that there was a small demonstration outside Highland Council HQ last Wednesday.

On the back of that and also the steady stream of messages from unhappy people to me and my colleagues a meeting has now been arranged between two senior SNP councillors and Stagecoach to discuss this issue.

The bypass

Thursday was the first more routine full meeting of Highland Council and the council passed overwhelmingly a motion whose wording I proposed and Michael Green seconded which read:

Council notes and welcomes recent statements that the Scottish Government remain wholly committed to the dualling of the A96 from Smithton to Hardmuir including the Nairn bypass.

Council urges the Government to take all necessary steps to make the swiftest further progress and to commit the required funding necessary to carry out the whole work in that project, including the cost of the construction itself, but also the land purchase, and all other preliminary works such as tree felling, archaeological work, as well as the necessary and complex alterations to placement and layout of utilities, cables, pipelines and the like.

Council further asks the Government to provide a detailed timetable setting out when this project will be completed, and stating when each necessary component part of the project is expected to commence and be delivered; and to demonstrate that priority will be attached to this roads project by the Government.

On the back of that motion attempts are now being made to arrange a meeting with the relevant Scottish Government ministers to drive this forward. I’ll keep you posted.

Short terms lets

Back when I was campaigning I wrote about short terms lets and like many people (including some sitting councillors!) I managed to conflate two issues. So let me talk about this again as it’s important if you own or live near a short term let property.

Short term let licensing

The Scottish Government has said that all existing short terms lets have to be licensed by 1st April 2023 (and somewhat sooner for properties just entering the market), so that means you if you own a property which you rent out, in whole or part. This will affect not only holiday cottages but also B&Bs and people who rent out a room in their house. There’s an FAQ available online here which should let you determine if you’re going to be affected.

I believe that the hope is that this licensing will make premises safer and also help prevent some of the problems which some neighbours currently experience with anti-social behaviour at short term lets in that the neighbours can complain and, potentially, get the property’s licence revoked.

The council’s estimate is that around 10,000 properties will be affected across the area, but they admit they don’t know for sure and it could be more so issuing these licences is going to be a big exercise for officers, especially the first time around, as timescales are short. It’s also likely to put more work on me as a member of the Licensing Committee.

By the way it should be noted that this is cost neutral for the council and hence us as council tax payers because the council is allowed to charge owners for each licence issued at a level which covers the cost, as they do now with things like premises licences for pubs.

The council has issued a press release today, Council confirms its preparation for implementation of licensing scheme for short term lets, which will tell you more about this new licensing regime.

The council is also currently seeking the public views on aspects of the scheme and you have until 5th August to respond but bear in mind that this licensing will definitely be going ahead as this is Scottish Government policy.

Short term let control areas

The licensing scheme I describe above does not control the number of short terms lets however Scottish councils can create, having jumped through all the required hoops, “short term let control areas” and the same council meeting also agreed to create one for the Badenoch and Strathspey ward which lies to the south of us.

This now goes to the Scottish Ministers for approval and, assuming that’s given, then Highland Council will be able to move forward with this for that ward.

Whether other wards go down this road will, I suspect, depend on how successful it is in Badenoch and Strathspey at relieving some of the pressures on housing in the area.