Nairn: seaside destination or Inverness slum?
Alasdar Rae posts about the “Inverness-Nairn city area” as a planning concept, which raises some ire at the Gurn.
A key point is probably this:
It is clear from recent and proposed developments (Bridgemill, Sandown, and others) that the default approach, which yields most profit, is cheap, high-density housing, with perhaps a bit of business space and a token gesture to the community. Such proposals won’t enhance Nairn’s appeal either to residents or visitors.
It’s obvious that the big concern is that Nairn may be seen as a dumping ground for Inverness planners, when what we should be pushing for is Nairn as a seaside and tourist destination.
It seems pretty insane that in all of the A96 Corridor Master Plan there seems little appreciation for Nairn as a tourist destination, and how to build upon that.
Surely it is now up to both us and our elected representatives to find a way to push recognition of Nairn’s existing and future potential as a tourist centre to the planners.
After all, it we are looking at a major urban expansion in the region, surely this should utilise and build upon leisure and recreational features already in the area, rather than seek to ignore regional highlights and simply seek to concrete over them?
The question is, what can be done about this? How can we set up official recognition of Nairn as a tourism centre to be nurtured? Just as a village can be set up as a conservation area, such as Cawdor, is there a similar option for Nairn to help safe-guard the town from rampant and thoughtless development?
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