Year 3, Week 29
Parking, changes for me, changes for council, gritting, brown bins, rent consultation, community councils ...
Parking review
Can I repeat what I first posted two weeks ago? The council is undertaking a review of parking in Nairn. It is available online at https://www.highland.gov.uk/nairntm for you to provide your views.
The form is, frankly, a lot more generic that I would have liked and appears to have been copied from one used elsewhere (for example we don’t have a taxi rank in Nairn!).
If you have concerns then I would encourage you to answer “Yes” to question 3 “Are there specific restrictions that need reviewed?” and then concentrate on question 4 in particular “Which restrictions would you like to see reviewed? This could include location of restriction or any changes you would like to see. Please provide details in the box below” and talk there about the parking issues which concern you, be they in the town centre, at The Links, in Fishertown, in Queenspark, or in your street.
Changes for me
The previous chair has stood down so as of last Tuesday I am now chair of the South Planning Applications Committee.
In addition as a result of recent by-elections the SNP group now gets six places on strategic committees rather than five so I am now a member of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee.
As a result of these changes and the extra responsibilities it involves (I had 757 pages to read for my first meeting of E&I!) I have resigned from the Highland Licensing Committee and the Highland Licensing Board.
So in summary I am now a member of:
Audit Committee
Corporate Resources Committee
Economy & Infrastructure Committee
Highland and Western Isles Valuation Joint Board (Substitute)
Nairnshire Committee (Vice Chair)
Planning Review Body
Pensions Committee
South Planning Applications Committee (Chair)
In addition to these committees I chair the board of Highland Opportunity (Investments) Limited on behalf of the council and I also sit on numerous sub-committees including the Central Safety Committee, Appeals Committee, and Investment Sub-Committee, the last of which I also chair.
Changes for council
A by-election was held in Fort William this week, the fourth since the summer, which resulted in the election of a Lib Dem councillor, replacing the previous Lib Dem councillor. So the make up of the council is now:
Alba Party (1)
Highland Alliance (7)
Highland Independent (16)
Non Aligned (3)
Scottish Conservative and Unionist (6)
Scottish Green Party (4)
Scottish Labour Party (2)
Scottish Liberal Democrats (14)
Scottish National Party (21)
The ruling group remains the Scottish National Party and the Highland Independents with 37 of the council’s 74 places, so precisely half the council but with a divided “opposition”, at least some of whom are sympathetic to our direction of travel, not least the Highland Investment Plan, the group remains viable and last week we started the work to prepare the council’s budget for 2025/6.
Gritting
Gritting of our roads began this week and after a two year(!) struggle I’ve finally got the council to put the up to date gritting maps for the ward online. You can find the leaflet here and I’ve pasted one of the maps from it below.
The leaflet explains how roads are prioritised, with the primary routes (shown in red above) taking priority, followed by the secondary routes (shown in blue), which are largely bus routes and around schools, being next.
Brown bins
For those of you with brown bins a reminder that the Garden Waste Collection Service is about to stop for the winter break. The last collections are this coming Friday, 29th November and collections resume on Monday, 3rd March.
During the winter you can take your garden waste to your local Household Waste Recycling Centre on the A939.
Rent consultation
Last week I mentioned this consultation on council house rents which was due to start on Monday, 18th November and I promised to post a link both here and on my social media once it was online. It didn’t appear so both I and Morag from the Queenspark Residents Group chased and I’m now told that it’s been put back a week so will start tomorrow, Monday 25th November, and will run until Friday, 13th December. I will post the link once I have it.
The event on 2nd December which I also advertised is still going ahead as before in the Cadet Hut on John Street on 2nd December from 2pm to 4pm as detailed in the poster above.
Community councils
Nairn River Community Council met on Wednesday night. There was a presentation by a member of the Park Run team (which will take place on The Links and should start in the spring). Among the items discussed were flood protection, various local planning applications, the parking review, and cameras on the A96.
Nairn West & Suburban Community Council meets on Monday, 25th November, at Nairn Community Centre at 7pm. Their agenda is on their web site here and they will be discussing toilets, the parking review and other issues.
Planning applications
The following new applications were logged since I last posted:
24/04216/FUL- Abercomby, 13 Old Bar View, Nairn, IV12 5BY - Extension to garage
24/04529/FUL - Upper Remore, Nairn, IV12 5UZ - Erection of summerhouse pod (incidental use)
24/04564/FUL - Nairn Golf Club, Seabank Road, Nairn, IV12 4HB - Erection of pergola and decking, landscaping
24/04642/FUL - Oakleigh, Piperhill, Nairn, IV12 5SD - Erection of garden room (in retrospect)
24/04769/FUL - 30 Beech Avenue, Nairn, IV12 4SY - Erection of extension
To find details search on the reference number on the planning portal where you can also find details on how to comment.