Year 3, Week 6
Nairn Community Centre, Nairn Academy, Education Maintenance Allowance, Marine Road, Battery storage, Councillors’ expenses ...
Nairn Community Centre
On Friday afternoon council officers emailed (full text here) members of the Nairn Common Good Engagement Group and the four active Community Councils in the ward for their views on a proposal to give £50,000 from the Nairn Common Good Fund to the charity which runs the Nairn Community and Arts Centre. We four ward members will have to decide whether to agree to this at a special Nairnshire Area Committee meeting which has been called in just over a week’s time on Monday, 24th June.
We find ourselves in this situation because directors of the charity revealed to ward councillors three and a half weeks ago that it has been running at a loss for some years and has been relying on draining down its reserves to keep itself afloat. This is not financially sustainable and by the time we were made aware they only had funds to keep going for a few more weeks, after which they would be unable to pay staff so the centre would have to close.
I could write for some length about my unhappiness that we ward councillors find ourselves in this position but we, and ward officers, have spent the last few weeks looking at solutions and, in the short term, a cash injection from the Nairn Common Good Fund is the only option we can find to at least keep it viable until Christmas.
This would be done on the basis that it is one off bridge funding to cover costs while the board of directors re-evaluate its current model and work towards options of improving its sustainability.
You may too have views on whether we should do this. If you do then do email me.
Nairn Academy
The planning permission for the new academy is, finally, coming to the South Planning Applications Committee for approval this Tuesday. The plan, assuming it’s approved, is for work to start in early July while the current school is closed, and it’s still scheduled for completion in August 2026 ready for the start of the new school year.
I think anyone who’s interested in the school will already be fully familiar with the design but the one change that’s new is that the council has now been obliged to put in a new pedestrian crossing on the A96, thus increasing the number of sets of traffic lights through Nairn from eight to nine.
Education Maintenance Allowance
During the last academic year, over 500 young people across Highland secondary schools benefited from approximately £420,000 from this allowance. It provides an incentive for young people aged 16-19 from lower income families to continue with their post-16 education, either in school or college by paying a weekly term time allowance of £30 directly into the young person’s bank account.
Now is the time to apply for the next academic year. It does not affect the child benefit or other benefits being paid to their parents or carers. Further information, including full eligibility criteria, is available here the Highland Council’s website.
Marine Road double yellow lines
I have posted here before about the lack of double yellow lines in Marine Road and I and other local members continue to chase. We have at least got traffic cones back in place but I received an email on Friday apologising for the continuing delay and promising it will be done “in the next two weeks”.
Battery storage
I’ve received notice this week of a proposal for a third battery energy storage system (BESS) linked to the electricity sub-station on Granny Barbours Road. The location is shown in the image below.
This would be the third BESS proposing to connect to the sub-station. We already have two with planning permission: one at Blackpark (also shown on the image above - it would be close to the buildings centre left) and another opposite Househill.
Councillors’ expenses
All Scottish councils have to publish the salaries and expenses of their councillors each financial year and Highland Council is no exception so they’re now available online.
You’ll notice considerable variation in expenses claimed. Two factors come into play here. Firstly the council covers a vast area, so some councillors face a very long drive from places like Skye and Lochinver, sometimes staying overnight in Inverness before morning meetings so that they can be there on time. Secondly some councillors choose, for whatever reason, not to claim some or all of their expenses.
I’ve extracted the entries for your four ward councillors which you can see below:
Apologies that this is an image so may be hard to see on mobile devices and will be unreadable if you’re blind or partially sighted so here’s a very brief summary of each of our salaries and expenses:
Laurie Fraser - £22,081.00 plus £260.10
Micheal Green - £22,080.96 plus £651.76
Barbara Jarvie - £20,099.04 plus £1,643.63
Paul Oldham - £20,099.04 plus £1,955.55
Planning applications
The following new applications were logged since I last posted:
24/01971/FUL - Land 45M SE Of Oakside, Penick, Nairn - Change of use from agricultural to garden ground, erection of domestic workshop, formation of
access
24/01992/FUL - 53 Harbour Street, Nairn, IV12 4NX - Alteration and extension to house
24/02041/MSC - House Plot At Rear Of Blairlyn, Moss-side Road, Nairn - Erection of house
To find details search on the reference number on the planning portal where you can also find details on how to comment.