Council business
I have had a busy week including spending two days chairing an extended South Planning Applications Committee where, among other things, we considered plans for three replacement electricity sub-stations and also for a pumped storage scheme on Loch Ness. The last of these alone took five hours to decide.
We also granted permission for plans by the “cloud factory” to construct a rail sidings yard next to the red building which will let them load containers of their finished boards directly onto trains. They estimate that this will reduce the number of lorry movements on the A96 by 20,000 a year initially rising to 40,000 by 2028 which has got to be good news for those of us commuting into Inverness.
On Tuesday I also chaired a meeting of the Nairn Academy Stakeholder Group where we heard that things are progressing very well with the new build and I hope to be able to visit it in the autumn once the floors are in. I’ll report back on that then.
We had two by-elections this week, for the Cromarty Firth and Eilean a' Cheò wards. After a lot of hard campaigning by all the candidates it appears that the newly elected councillors, although both nominally “independents”, will be joining the same groups as the councillors who had resigned so there is no change to the political make up of the council.
Monthly tidy ups
Nairn BID is going to take the cleaning of the town into its own hands and is going to trial carrying out a monthly tidy up of different areas. You can read more about this here.
The first tidy up will be carried out in collaboration with Green Hive for a litter pick and beach clean on Friday, 4th July. The tidy up will start at the Seaman’s Victoria Hall on Harbour Street at 10am where the team will head to the High Street to give it some TLC. Afterwards there will be refreshments served in the Seaman’s Hall. At 1pm, they will set off from Seaman’s Hall for a beach clean.
All welcome – join them for the morning or afternoon event or for both!
Nairn Book & Arts Festival
The 22nd Nairn Book & Arts Festival will take place from Saturday 30th August to Sunday 7th September with a "spring tide" of cultural events inspired by this year's coastal/maritime theme and includes not just talks but also workshops, music and song, and tours around the town. It’s always excellent value for money and is a major event for the town and is supported by the Nairn Common Good Fund. You can buy tickets here.
I should also mention that our own Neil R McAdam, who stays in Nairn, is launching his book Hominin on Friday, 5th September at the community centre. That’s a free event so it’s not on the ticket booking site but it is in the festival programme.
Road closures
The closure of the U3101 at Drynachan from 8am and 5pm on Monday, 23rd June has been delayed until Friday 27th June.
Planning applications
The following new applications were logged since I last posted.
25/01843/FUL - Little Cotterton Cottage, Cawdor, Nairn, IV12 5XR - Replacement of roof tiles with corrugated steel
25/01982/LBC - 4-6 Courthouse Lane, Nairn, IV12 4DR - Internal alterations; repairs to windows; replacement glass; roof and stonework repairs
To find details search on the reference number on the planning portal where you can also find details on how to comment.