Local Councillors: Do they really represent Nairn?
A couple of marked points in this week’s Nairnshire Telegraph as both arrogance and timidity was shown to be core values of Nairn’s representatives:
Councillor Sandy Park is reported to have reacted negatively to Iain Fairweather’s proposal to bring business and tourist planning together in an intelligent manner that looks to the future.
According to the Nairnshire:
The proposal once again irked Highland Council representatives. Mr Fairweather fended off an early attempt by Cllr [Sandy] Park to derail him during his presentation. When he had finished the convener commented that his talk was “doom and gloom”.
If reported correctly, it suggests either Sandy Park is completely out of touch with what is happening in and around Nairn – or else he has his own vision for the future improvement of Nairn that he is not sharing.
After the string of public criticisms regarding Nairn’s current state of disrepair, lack of joined up planning, and otherwise contradictory approach to development, what is all the more remarkable is for a public servant and elected official to seek to downplay any intelligent contribution by the public – and business leaders – to the future of a town that so desperately needs a vision to work with.
Com Councillor Martin Ashford is quoted as fearing that Deveron would pull out of the Sandown development if local pressure continued. He is quoted in the Nairnshire as saying:
“The implicit threat from the developer was that they will pull the pin if they don’t get their way.”
Huh? Pull what pin? Or did he mean plug?
Whatever his meaning, the Sandown development was a prime catch for Deveron, and they make a big point about this themselves:
[Deveron Homes] is to launch a key new project in Nairn, near Aberdeen, involving over 800 houses and a large amount of infrastructure. Ms. Holburn describes it as “a major coup”, and gives an impressive list of names that the company beat to the deal.
I’m sure Martin is a lovely bloke, but if he is taking fright so easily in the face of business decisions it is unbecoming, especially as Deveron would be devastated to lose the development.
This is not least because it was previously reported that the company paid well over the expected £14 million for the land – land which under credit crunch conditions would struggle with a comparable resale value (as Barratts and other major UK housebuilders have found as they struggle to survive).
The curious thing is that although the Nairnshire quotes a “Com Councillor Martin Ashford” I can find no reference to him on the Highland Council website, or anywhere else for that matter. Another website update needed, somebody?
Overall, it’s unwelcome that representatives for Nairn seem unable to accept that Nairn has issues to address, else go all a-quiver in the face of business.
It’s worth underlining that Deveron needs this development to go ahead. That’s probably why they are pushing so hard on the marketing front with their PR company – something resident John Hart is so critical of both here in the comments and in his recent letter published to the Courier.
There’s plenty of reasons why a development is a good idea, not least if Deveron are looking for inspiration from the Prince of Wales and his Poundbury development.
However, the need for intelligent planning grows ever more important – as someone else recently put to the Inverness Courier, to what extent do the plans for Tornagrain cover any potential expansion of Inverness Airport?
Allowing developers free reign results in longer-term planning problems – what would be more helpful is if people such as Sandy Park let us know how he is already planning to overcome these. In the meantime, he remains an elected representative of a seaside town with almost no seaside facilities, a tourist destination without a tourist information centre, and a growing town that resists the development of new facilities while new planned towns and major developments are springing up around it.
Comments
12 Responses to “Local Councillors: Do they really represent Nairn?”
Leave a Reply
Visited 768 times, 1 so far today
Sometimes you have to have a good look at Nairnshire material Brian and as with any meeting report there is no substitute for being there in person. Martin was simply interjecting with supplementry information to my mind and was not at the meeting to support the developer.
Anyway I’ve known him for over 20 years and, like his father before him, he is a committed community campaigner and environmentalist. He will only support what is good for our community. For what it is worth I have complete confidence in the man.
I kind of suspected that a “shooting from the hip” post could be in danger of causing offence somewhere, so I tried to take some of the edge on the comments regarding Martin. I felt a need to vent on a feeling of anger on the Nairnshire’s coverage.
However, Martin’s comment is dangerous – under absolutely no circumstances should any representatives fear that a developer may pull out of a project they have already a major investment in.
Of course, I kind of suspect Highland Council never made it a part of the tendering process in the first place to add normal business clauses – that should a developer be unable to meet the planning obligations agreed, that they would have to pay for the failure to meet agreed terms.
It’s kind of frustrating in general that the HC comes across in general as having people making business decisions, who do not appear to have the relevant business experience to make such decisions. Councils in general, I guess.
2c.
It’s kind of frustrating in general that the HC comes across in general as having people making business decisions, who do not appear to have the relevant business experience to make such decisions.
Precisely; some of them are completely out of their depth as the outcomes of some recent policy/political decisions have shown.
Heads up everyone, something else has kicked off. The elderly in our community need our help, get over to the Gurn please and print off the petition and poster etc.
To put the record straight, Sandy Park certainly did interject but not over what I said about tourism. It was early on when I was being critical of planning issues and he wondered what it had to do with tourism. So not unreasonable on his part. The person who used the term “doom and gloom” was Provost Liz MacDonald. But I am hopeful that with time to mull things over our elected representatives may come to realise that it is only doom and gloom if we do nothing – and like a good surfer, they have an opportunity to catch a wave. But they could also be washed away by it. I hope not.
I have only lived here in Nairn for 14 mths but can appreciate what an amazing place it is. It does how ever run a hige risk of becoming what so many small towns in West Yorkshire, where I’m from, have become. Unimaginative, inward thinking, charity shop blighted nothings. Nairn has so much to offer,my God, location alone says it must be onto a winner. Only abismal mismanagment could ruin this…………but it could and will happen if people do not take their heads out of the plentyful sand and wake up to the fact that it needs to develop. This development, as Iain says, needs to be linked, business and tourism. Shops need to be supported to thrive. The natural beauty needs to be protected and managed. Old buildings need to be put to new uses and not demolished. The council should use it’s power to presure companies like Summerfield to do somthing with or remove the redundent filling station etc. Don’t support a bypass, make what you see as you drive through Nairn make you want to stop. Bypasses in Yorkshire have killed small towns and opened the door to out of town shopping malls. Why turn off the main road when you can buy all you need at Asda?? If you want a great example of what not to do, look at Bradford! They knocked down the old heart of the city in th 70′s, copied what every town did, built an Arndale shopping centre and now they have knocked it all down again to create what? Nothing? Nairn is special, different and long may it stand out from the crowd as such.
Thanks for the comment, Jon, and welcome to the site.
Hi Brian, don’t see another way to get intouch with you. Please drop me aline as I’m looking to start a business in Nairn. Looking at setting up an organic cafe, sales outlet, incorporating the local tourist info centre. Staffed by adults with learning disabilities. Too much to put here, please drop me a line for a chat/meeting.
Jon
Hi Brian
I would like to Join your site as I have many issues that deserve, need to be aired and this seems an un-bias sit on which to do it I have tried to post topics but like Jon can’t find how to do so
Keep up the good work.
Jake, I tried to send you an email, but it bounced – do I have your correct address??
Hi Brian
I don’t know what is happening to my Email I triedgetting a friend to send to me as well and it bounced I am checking.
Hi it should be good now.