Highland Council Consultation on Grant St. Yard Site Owned by Nairn Common Good
NWSCC
Added at 13:42 on 16 February 2023
The Highland Council is conducting a 2nd consultation, deadline for responses 17 March 2023, on the future of Nairn Common Good land in Grant Street opposite the old Links School, currently set up as a workshop and yard. A useful source for information is Councillor Oldham's Week 37 Substack message. The options on the table, leasing or sale, are complicated by the state of the site and it is estimated that it may cost Nairn Common Good £15k to do demolition work to make the site an attractive leasing proposition, with a site valuation of around £50k.
At the last Joint CCs Meeting, NWSCC was encouraged to hear the Nairn Councillors' committment to creating a Common Good Engagement Group (CGEG) to obtain more local input into decision-making and a meeting is planned for March to get the ball rolling. NWSCC is disappointed that the CGEG will only be a 'sounding board' for the Councillor Trustees rather than having decision-making authority and that there was unwillingness to defer decisions on current Common Good matters until the CGEG is in place.
Whilst there may be important and imminent decisions required on some current Common Good matters, a decision on the Grant St. yard does not seem to be urgent and would be an ideal matter for CGEG consideration. NWSCC will consider its response to the Consultation at its next meeting on 27 February and urges consitutents and members of the community to also respond.