Year 5, Week 1

Scottish Parliament elections, four years, A96 issues, road closures ...

Scottish Parliament elections

I spent much of Thursday getting out the vote and then over twelve hours on Friday at the hall in Inverness Leisure standing monitoring the count so my back and knees are currently killing me. Anyway the result is that Emma Roddick is now our constituency MSP for the next five years. Full results below:

As before we also have seven regional MSPs. They are, in order elected:

• Vic Currie - Reform UK

• Ariane Burgess - Scottish Green Party

• Tim Eagle - Scottish Conservative and Unionist

• Max Bannerman - Reform UK

• Morven-May MacCallum - Scottish Liberal Democrat

• Kristopher Leask - Scottish Green Party

• Maree Todd - SNP

So in summary that reduced the Conservatives from four to one regional MSP. Of the three places freed up two went to Reform UK and one to the Greens.

Four years

This week saw the fourth anniversary of my election to council. It’s always a day of the year I view with mixed feeling as while the count was proceeding I was reading the eulogy at my mother’s funeral and so I got the news of the result at the wake.

As you know for the last fifteen months I have chaired the South Planning Applications Committee and then, last June, I became a strategic chair, being the chair of the Corporate Resources Committee. Corporate Resources is all about how the council works internally, so it encompasses things like accounts, council tax and business rates collection, personnel issues, dealing with the press and with legal issues.

As well as inheriting Corporate Resources when the old chair departed I also now chair the Pensions Committee, which looks after the defined benefit pension scheme from which local government employees benefit.

I also sit on and chair a lot of smaller committees and sub-committees including the Investment Sub-Committee which monitors the way we invest, not just for the pension scheme but also for the Nairn Common Good Fund.

In between meetings I’m busy with your issues. The cases I’ve had this year have included all sort of things. Just looking back over the last three months I see I’ve talked to people about graffiti, fly tipping, dangerous trees, planning applications, damaged pavements, photography on council premises, their employment with the council, garden waste bins, issues of anti-social behaviour by neighbours, road markings, speeding, cross pavement EV charging, the proposed visitor levy, community councils, burst water mains, dog waste bins, public rights of way, second homes, faulty traffic lights, Moray FLOW-Park, council tax rises, play areas, bus services, and bus shelters.

I hope those of you who have had to contact me are happy with the responses you’ve had but if not then do contact me again.

A96 issues

We had an update this week from Amey who work on behalf of Transport Scotland in managing the A96.

• On the signage at the Auldearn east junction this has been discussed with Transport Scotland and they have agreed to changes to the routing of vehicles on the local road system around Auldearn which requires changes to the signs on the A96.

• Amey’s Network Team have rejected Scottish Water’s proposals for works at the Lochloy Road junction so it will be interesting to see where that leads.

• We had asked if the 30mph limit on the A96 from east of Lochloy Road out to the Sainsburys roundabout could be reduced to 20mph. Apparently new speed limits locations and extents have been proposed and are being reviewed by Highland Council.

• Graffiti from under the A96 bridge over the Nairn was been noted and will be removed.

Road closures

I was alerted late on Friday by Doug that SGN are proposing to renew the gas main in Merryton Crescent starting on Monday, 11th May for 16(!) weeks.

Having looked on the Scottish Road Works Commissioner web site this confirms the work is being undertaken, and also in Merryton Gardens for the same time as this screenshot shows:

I’ve not had any notice of this so I assume, but I have emailed Highland Council officers to confirm, that this doesn’t involve a closure of the road and they’re probably relying on temporary traffic lights but it will undoubtedly be noisy while they are doing this work.