Nairn River Community Council and Nairn West and Suburban Community Council welcome the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman’s findings and decision in relation to the Highland Council’s decision-making, funding and delivery of the town centre new housing/offices building. The Ombudsman’s verdict is unequivocal. Highland Council got it wrong: • the Council failed to follow appropriate process during decision-making on the Nairn town centre project and its funding; • there was no evidence that suitable projects were invited, identified and considered; • the taking of decisions in closed Ward Business Meetings was inappropriate, contrary to good governance and lacking in transparency;
These conclusions echo very closely the comments and objections originally raised by local Community Councils and others – which were ignored and dismissed at the time by Highland Council.
This outcome shows that these local concerns were fully justified, and that it was right to submit a formal complaint to the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman (SPSO)
We believe those responsible ought to be held accountable for the failings now identified. This is not a minor oversight or a matter of procedural detail. It was not an error by a single individual. There was a systemic failure.
The Council did not comply with its own rules.
Those who took the decisions on the spending of a substantial Town Centre Fund allocation in Nairn were neither open nor transparent.
Instead of using the funding to “repurpose existing town centre buildings… to improve access and infrastructure”, they ignored the existing agreed and approved Town Centre Regeneration Plan and channelled the available money into an entirely new build, a project which the Ombudsman has pointed out, was “unsupported by documentation”;
The SPSO report highlights the fact that “no other project options were invited, explored or considered.” At no stage were any other proposals assessed or ranked – as required by the Council’s own policy guidance – in the Nairnshire Area Committee.
Indeed the Ombudsman notes that the principles of the Council’s localism agenda – bringing decision making closer to communities – were observed by other Area Committees, but not in Nairn. In commenting on the process in Lochaber (which the Council had cited in its own evidence) the SPSO verdict points out that
“…It was precisely this sort of decision-making which was lacking in Nairn. Rather than add weight to the Council’s position, this evidence instead highlights what was wrong with the decision-making process in Nairn.”
The SPSO verdict spells out that the Council’s conduct was “contrary to good governance”. • In plain language, what happened in Nairn was a stitch-up, decided and delivered behind closed doors. • Nairn’s elected Councillors, and the officials involved, failed to observe the principles, and the practice, that the rules require and that we have the right to expect.
The SPSO decision requires the Council to apologise for this failure, and to take steps to improve the way they operate.
That is about the least we might expect. But what remains, in the centre of our town, is a lasting monument to the unsatisfactory conduct and actions of our elected representatives and the local authority.
It is even more disappointing that those in Highland Council who were responsible for monitoring the process and applying agreed procedure not only failed to do so, but were actually complicit in the actions and decision-making which the SPSO has found to have fallen short. We believe that those who did not comply with proper procedure and those who are responsible for, or sought to excuse, the shortcomings identified by the SPSO ought to be held directly accountable for those failures.
Without such accountability, it is difficult to see how public trust in the integrity of the Council’s decision-making can be restored.
Nairn West & Suburban CC Nairn River CC February 2022
Full text of the 16 page Ombudsman decision sent to the complainant 10 February 2022 is here subject to final review. The final decision will be laid before Parliament and published online on the SPSO website
2022 has so far been very busy on the Common Good front for both of Nairn’s (former Royal Burgh) community councils. We hope that this year we will see long awaited progress on an improved ‘governance’ structure for these valuable Nairn assets with the local oversight we have been asking for for 25 years since we lost Nairn District Council.
Its not just Nairn !
We’ve heard from Wick Community Council that we are not alone in having concerns about the way Highland Council is imposing parking charges on Common Good land without proper prior public consultation. It is happening in Caithness too. We will be meeting soon online with Wick CC members to compare notes, and interesting to hear that a Council Officer told them how well the new parking ‘scheme’ was working in Nairn!
Research by our colleagues at Nairn West and Suburban CC has also revealed that Nairn seems to be the only town in Highland whose Common Good Fund is being charged by Highland Council for maintenance of Common Good land in regular use for public recreation, as in other places the Council looks after such assets in lieu of rent.
Accounting anomaly leads to double charging
NWSCC have also spotted two significant accounting anomalies in Nairn’s Common Good ‘accounts’, with Highland Council apparently ‘double charging’ Nairn Common Good Fund since 2011 for maintenance of the paddling pool area at the Links (where the new Splashpad is now), when these fees (amounting to around £70,000) were already paid to HighLife Highland(HLH) by Highland Council as part of the HLH service delivery contract.
Additionally it was noticed that Highland Council had billed Nairn Common Good £25,000 for internal project costs for the new Splashpad which the Council had already agreed to contribute to the project. We understand that this will be repaid to Nairn Common Good Fund.
When these anomalies were pointed out the Highland Council said it was a ‘miscoding’ error. It is concerning that none of our 4 elected Councillors as Common Good Trustees had noticed it.
More information here in letters sent to the Council from NWSCC.
Parking Charges on Common Good land with Council taking 50% are likely to be illegal
Legal advice has been taken by NWSCC on the current ‘voluntary’ parking charges imposed without any prior consultation with Nairn residents by Highland Council. It has emerged that there is no record of a Traffic Regulation Order in place to permit the Links/Cumming Street and Maggot Common Good recreation areas to be ‘managed’ as car parks by Highland Council. A senior Scottish lawyer ( an expert on Common Good Law) has identified the introduction of charges for parking on Nairn Common Good land as a ‘change of use’ requiring prior public consultation and has also advised that the ‘top slicing’ by Highland Council traffic department, of 50% of parking income to cover THC ‘operating costs’ is likely illegal under current Scottish legislation which says that 100% of revenue raised from Common Good Assets should be paid directly into that Common Good Fund.
Here also is a reminder from our blog of the questions we raised last summer with Highland Council when this dubious charging scheme was first imposed by Shane Manning Highland’s Traffic Manage. It includes a link to an example from Angus Council area of the economic damage charging for parking can do to footfall and local businesses in small towns
Camper Vans at the Maggot ? And still no Harbour Street public toilets?
A Planning Application was lodged during the Xmas holidays by Highland Council to erect a ‘Camper Van Waste Disposal facility’ on the Maggot (Common Good) Car Park. We were given between 22nd December and 6th January to note interest as a CC in responding as Statutory Consultee and we just made it in time to request for an extension till after our first meeting of the year on 19th January. Objections were raised by both Nairn CC’s to this premature Application as it represents yet another ‘change of use’ on Common Good Land without the required prior community consultation, and also presents public health and environmental implications due to pollution risk in a fragile area. The Maggot location is also unsuitable with camper van facilities ‘next door’ at Parkdean, whose profit margins are already vulnerable post COVID, without publicly subsidised competition undermining business.
We understand that Parkdean management (who pay rent to Nairn Common Good Fund) were not consulted by Highland Council prior to this Planning Application being lodged.
Nairn River CC are of the view that any Highland Council spend on ‘visitor provision’ should prioritise the urgent need for flood proof public toilets at the Harbour which could include camper van waste facilities and cater also for the sailing community.
Here are the submissions sent to Planning by the two Nairn Community Councils.
We continue to push for improved public toilet and other visitor facilities in Nairn.
Shortly after these and other letters from Nairn CC’s highlighting a range of concerns about Nairn Common Good management, were submitted to Highland Council, this Planning Application for a camper van waste disposal point at the Maggot was withdrawn and all documents including the application and public comments were removed from the Highland Council planning portal.
Highland Council has launched an ‘additional consultation ( till end January) on the proposed sale of Sandown Lands – one of Nairn’s most valuable Common Good Assets.
Picture from Inverness Courier – Nairnshire Edition 30 November 2021
On Wednesday 1 December – Nairn’s 4 Highland Councillors will be asked by Highland Council at the Nairnshire Local Area Committee to review and approve the ‘ Nairn section’ of a proposed new ‘Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan’
If Councillors ‘rubber stamp’ the IMFLDP2 for Nairn at this point, this ‘Local Plan’ could be set in stone for a decade by Highland Council in Spring 2022 after a final phase of public consultation.
There are also sections for Cawdor and Auldearn before the Nairnshire Committee for decision- but the wording of the ‘Nairn’ town section which our Highland Councillors are being asked to approve, is as follows
6.11 ‘ In Nairn, the recommendation is to support ongoing regeneration of the town centre together with larger, strategic development which can deliver the necessary infrastructure and become fully integrated with the town’s existing built fabric and transport network. As such, we propose to allocate Nairn Town Centre for a flexible range of uses and the eastern quarter of the former Showfield and Achareidh for relatively small-scale housing. The strategic, longer term vision for Nairn includes land at Granny Barbour Road to the east and Sandown to the west, the latter subject to ongoing consideration of Common Good Land issues. Both sites are considered to have the ability to provide the necessary levels of infrastructure to fully address the impacts of development and integrate them within the town. Despite land at Nairn South being in close proximity to key facilities, its reallocation is not supported as significant transport related concerns remain including the ability of the network to accommodate large scale growth and the deliverability of appropriate solutions. Although Delnies has an extant planning permission (in principle), it is also not recommended for reallocation due to it being detached from the town and concerns over its deliverability’
Earlier in 2021 the draft part of the IMFLDP for Nairn, with priorities similar to above, was rejected by almost everyone from Nairn who submitted comments to the ‘Main Issues Report’ public consultation(Nairn comments linked here). This included the two community councils elected by the public to represent the town- Nairn River CC and Nairn West and Suburban CC.
The current final draft of this ‘new’ Local Development Plan, looks very much like the previous ‘old style’ one for the current decade, despite a completely new Scottish Planning Framework coming into force from 2022, with community led Local Place Planning at its heart.
Local community councils and others have pointed out that the proposed IMFLDP is not fit for purpose, because it does not include any commitments for Nairn over the coming decade, which address new Scottish Government planning priorities of Infrastructure First, a ‘green’ future, and town centre regeneration of existing buildings over out of town new build development.
All these things are needed to ‘future proof’ our town whose roads, drainage, sewerage and community facilities (including health and education) are already not coping with current demands and need serious investment.
The A96 through town is gridlocked, and we have the highest flood risk in Highland outside Inverness with no prevention measures yet on the table yet to protect vulnerable areas like Fishertown, Riverside, Balmakeith and Alton Burn.
The prospect of further ‘developer led’ intensive house building for Nairn before a new A96 bypass is in place(which could be 10 years away beyond the scope of this ‘new’ plan), is unthinkable, with a legacy of problems emerging at Lochloy where 1000 new homes were built on Highland Council’s watch, without delivery of the required infrastructure which a growing community needs (social rented housing, a school, and community facilities, proper access roads).
The two Nairn community councils have sent a joint letter to Nairn’s 4 Councillors in advance of the 1 Dec Nairnshire Committee, to make clear that Nairn’s community deserves better from the local development planning process, than what is currently on the table for IMFLDP2.
We asked that a Local community led Place Plan be developed as a priority to address Nairn’s pressing needs for Infrastructure First and a Green future. This Local Place Plan should inform any future Local Development Plan for the wider Inner Moray Firth area. Not the other way around, as it is clear that ‘top down’ and ‘developer led’ planning has not served Nairn well in the past.
The two Nairn CC’s have asked Councillors to consider their decision carefully on IMFLDP2, taking account of these concerns, and to show local leadership by standing up for Nairn communities.
To: Nairn Councillors: T. Heggie, P. Saggers, L. Macdonald, L. Fraser
Dear Highland Councillors of Nairn and Cawdor Ward
INNER MORAY FIRTH LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2
We understand that the Nairnshire Area Committee will consider and be asked to agree the latest recommendations for the IMFLDP – Nairn section – at its next meeting on 1 December, 2021.
Both Nairn Community Councils wish to reiterate our rejection of the ‘old style’ IMFLDP for Nairn as unfit for purpose and not in compliance with the ‘Infrastructure First – Green approach’. The Scottish Government intend the new planning system (National Planning Framework 4) to commence in June 2022 and work is already advanced in Nairn to develop and prepare a Local Place Plan, which should inform the Local Development Plan from the bottom up. Please reflect this in your decision making on 1 December to ensure that any new Local Development Plan adopted fully meets Nairn’s current needs.
The Nairn community is now suffering multiple infrastructure crises due to inadequate provision of roads, water supply, sewage, drainage/flood prevention, schools, doctors/dentists to name but a few.
Nairn is not receiving its fair share of Highland budgets, and this too is now biting hard into the provision of local services and amenities.
Many of these problems have accelerated into crises because of poor decision making by Highland Councillors and significant failures in cohesive local development planning.
For example, Lochloy has seen 1000 new homes built since 2000, accommodating over a quarter of Nairn’s population, and creating significant road congestion in and out of town, with only one access road and no school, no shop nor community facilities on the estate. New residents are experiencing problems with recent sewage overflow and pump failures, water supply and surface drainage issues.
The people of Nairn expect its Ward Councillors and Highland Council to:
fully embrace and commit to delivering all the principles of the new Scottish planning system;
comply with the spatial principles for Scotland 2045, contained within the NPF4, soon to be consented by Parliament i.e. Compact Growth, Balanced Development, Conserving and Recycling Assets, Urban and Rural Synergy, and Just Transition;
proactively support the development of a Local Place Plan for Nairn; and
commit to and deliver an Infrastructure First approach to all development planning prior to any further major development being considered for Nairn.
Lessons must be learned from Lochloy to prevent any further failures of development planning in Nairn.
We look to you as our Ward Councillors to show local leadership by standing up for Nairn and doing what is right for its residents.
Yours sincerely
Hamish Bain , Chair Alastair Noble , Vice Chair
Nairn River Community Council Nairn West and Suburban Community Council
Additionally on Monday 29th November Nairn West and Suburban Community Council met and agreed to send an additional message to Highland Councillors prior to their important decision on 1 Dec on IMFLDP2. This calls into question the housing need projections for Nairn in IMFLDP2 which are based on a recently revised Highland wide Housing Needs and Demand Assessment(HNDA) – which has not yet been authorised or approved as ‘robust and credible’ by the appropriate national body.
Email from NWSCCto 4 Nairn Highland Councillors ( 30/11/21)
Dear Councillors, At NWSCC meeting last night we discussed the housing figures in the proposed IMFDP which you are discussing tomorrow. I have for three months been asking to see the HNDA on which the figures are normally based, and only today received the necessary papers from Scott Dalgarno after confirming with the director of the Centre for Housing Market Analysis that he had received a copy of HC HNDA and if it had been approved as Robust and Credible. The answer which I got was that the HNDA draft version 1 was unacceptable, and a second draft had been submitted in October. This has not yet achieved Robust and Credible certification and therefore reference in the IMFDP to housing figures ‘based on’ the HNDA are totally inappropriate, as the HNDA as of now has no standing. As you may be aware the HNDA is supposed to be the first building block of a development plan, and the fact that Land allocations are being made without an approved HNDA in place means that the housing figures and land allocations in the plan are based on nothing but supposition and developer pressure. For instance, the draft HNDA figures for 10 years housing in Nairn are 376. Somehow in the IMFDP this figure has metamorphosed into 513 with no explanation whatsoever other than ‘policy adjustments’ What policy? Where is it described? The policy which is most important to Nairn at present is Infrastructure First, and the fact that you are being asked to approve land allocation for major developments which grossly exceed the housing need before there is any commitment to sort traffic congestion, water and sewage, flooding, schools, health services and environmental issues is totally inappropriate. NWSCC asks that you take a step back and consider whether Nairn should be going down the route of a local place plan which would address these issues and take a holistic view of the next few years, not a developers charter as we clearly have in the IMFDP. KInd regards, Joan Noble (on behalf of NWSCC)
See also recent coverage from Inverness Courier Nairnshire Edition of local community council concerns re the serious risks for Nairn of adopting a flawed Local Development Plan which could enable more ‘developer led planning’ to go ahead instead of prioritising ‘Infrastructure First’ and a ‘community led’ approach to local planning.
Thanks to Morton Gillespie for the photo of where the spill ended up – at his back fence at Kingsteps
Here at Nairn River we are devastated but not surprised to hear of yesterday’s sewage flood at Kingsteps. This occurred on Wednesday at the newest development at Lochloy which we campaigned so hard in 2018 to persuade Highland Council to reject for reasons exactly like this.
As far as we are aware, no homes were actually flooded, but it was a close call which will require a full investigation to make sure it cannot happen again. Public health risks are considerable and we do not yet know the wider environmental implications of this overflow on local water quality or on the nearby salt flats and bird reserve which is a highly vulnerable ecosystem. And tourist attraction……
As your Community Council we will continue to do all we can, in our statutory role, to speak up for local residents to make sure they receive the standard of public services they are entitled to and have paid for, and to make sure this incident is fully investigated.
Sadly we saw this one coming, as back in 2018 we expressed detailed community concerns to Highland Council about inadequate drainage and sewerage and other key infrastructure for Lochloy, before these homes at Burnside were consented, and have been hearing ever since the newest houses were completed about repeated failures of sewage pumping, requiring lorries to come and remove the problem, to prevent incidents such as this.
We encourage local residents to continue keeping us informed of any relevant local concerns so that we can keep pushing for infrastructure which is fit for purpose and for Nairn voices to finally be listened to and taken seriously at Highland HQ .
The latest article from Inverness Courier about Community Councils continued push for measures to improve drainage infrastructure and reduce flood risk in the Nairn area is here
We will post more factual information here soon to help Nairnites to understand better how this happened, and why the last 119 homes built by Springfield at Lochloy on should never have been consented by the Highland Council
Get in touch if you have ideas, or offers of help or resources, for other ‘citizen action’ projects to improve Nairn for everyone.
We can help connect you with other local volunteers, community interest groups , and relevant authorities to help make it happen.
Also have a look at our new Environment page for information on threats currently facing Nairn’s natural environment, and ways in which you can get involved as a citizen to keep Nairn beautiful and sustainable for future generations, including how you can do your bit by ‘rewilding’ your garden or neighbourhood.
Nairn River CC is holding an additional special meeting on Wednesday 29th September to discuss proposed new governance structures for Nairn and Nairnshire .
The proposed structure for a new Nairn Economic Development Forum to operate in parallel with a new more collaborative, community focussed and outcome driven Nairn and Nairnshire Community Planning Partnership, appears to include proposed disposal of Common Good land at Sandown which belongs to the people of Nairn, which is a matter for the community to decide upon, rather than commercial interests.
Sandown land is an inalienable Nairn Common Good Asset which would require approval from the Sheriff Court for any disposal or change of use. It has recently been the subject of a statutory public consultation ( under the Community Empowerment Act 2015) with 85 out of 98 public responses returning an overwhelming No from the Nairn community to proposed sale of this land at this time.
Having reviewed this response Highland Council has decided to continue consulting for another 12 weeks, stating it wishes to widen the reach of the consultation, and to clarify any public ‘confusion’ about what is proposed.
We have been told by Highland Council elected members and officers, that there are ‘no developers in the wings’ .
We have discovered through a Freedom of Information request from Nairnshire Ward Business Meeting minutes ( not normally made publicly available) that Nairn BID, a local business support organisation, not elected by the public, have agreed to play a leading role in a new ‘Nairn Economic Development Forum’ which along with tourism marketing and business network activity , will also comprise a ‘Town Centre Working Group’ and Nairn Jobs Network ( a community led network established during lockdown by local volunteers) )
Nairn BID may well be in the loop with this, but elected Community Councils and other community bodies have received no briefing information from Highland Council, apart from the outline structure tabled at the Nairn and Nairnshire Community Planning Partnership for consideration. The current proposed new structures are below included an outline for Nairn Economic Development Forum and we will refer to these at our Special meeting on 29th September.
Nairn River Community Council 