Sandown development gets continuing press
The Inverness Courier again picks up the story of the continuing story regarding the Sandown development:
Both sides voice concerns over planning process
THE battle over the proposed development of Sandown on the outskirts of Nairn looks set to continue, with opposing sides raising concerns about the way the application has been handled.
advertisingHighland councillors last month turned down a proposal by Deveron Homes for 550 homes, business units and leisure facilities because of its scale and the lack of infrastructure in the town to absorb the population growth.
The company, which was “extremely disappointed” by the decision, is now seeking an urgent meeting with senior councillors and officials to clarify the council’s position before deciding its next move.
At the same time, a residents’ campaign group has written to Highland MSPs and members of the council’s planning committee recording its appreciation of the outcome, but raising continuing concerns about the planning process and integrity and transparency of decision-making.
The article is quite a good read, and makes an effort to skirt the bias we’ve seen elsewhere, giving some choice quotes from the Nairn Residents Concern Group towards the end of the article.
The letter the NRCG raised was linked to earlier in the week from the Gurn, but here it is if you haven’t read it yet.
I’ve got to admit, my initial reaction was that the group were being too anti-developer – development can be very good for Nairn, if done in an intelligent and considered manner.
However, it does look like the group’s aim is to simply reign in a planning process which gives bias to developer interests regardless of what they are looking to do – with the group trying to bring what happens to Nairn for its future under closer public scrutiny.
In doing so, it seems the group isn’t just looking to tackle Sandown, but the entire A96 Masterplan the Highland Council are trying to push. That’s a big brief to tackle.
Either way, with recent developments at Lochloy and the Maggot looking to push multi-storey flats on Nairn (higher profit per square foot than large detached homes), it’s clear Nairnites think the council hasn’t been taking Nairn seriously.
Nairn is repeatedly stated as the second biggest town in the Highlands, but with the lowest population distribution of any other UK county, and a huge area of land that accommodates fewer people than a small English city, it remains to be seen whether Nairn is up to the challenge.
Perhaps Nairn is looking to be the mouse that roared?
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