Figure 1. Nairn, Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan 2, published for consultation 25th March 2023, page 278

Area NA02 Former Showfield East is identified in IMFLDP2 for an indicative 20 new homes in circa 0.8ha. Development of the site does feature requirements, including retaining the “green space, including provision of reconfigured sports pitch of at least equivalent size and quality”, all with enhanced parking and access provision. Reference Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan 2, published for consultation 25th March 2023, page 279.

What do you think?

Is it possible to achieve an enhanced access, with parking, where access is generally obtained from Lodgehill Road?

How does an additional 20 homes, at an additional 30 vehicles (calculated using the THC planning formula of 1.5 cars per new home), feature accessing the A96 at one of the most congested stretches of the A96 as it travels through Nairn?

Perhaps you think this infill site makes clear sense in the sustainable development of Nairn, creating capacity increase in housing without expanding the boundaries of the town?

Or do you think that the Showfield represents a key Getting Around anchor point in accessing the primary schools and High Street from Achareidh and Tradespark, taking pedestrians and non-vehicular transport away from the A96 whilst maintaining green space and capacity for sports in the town centre?

You can tell us what you think directly at lpp@nicenairn.org.uk or leave your comment below.

Figure 1. Map 31 Nairn, Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan, page 278, published for consultation 25th March 2023.

Area NA01 in Achareidh is identified for housing over an area of circa 18.4ha. The site is identified with an indicative capacity of 30 new houses.

How would you see the future of Achareidh?

Is 30 new houses a potential an increase in capacity for affordable homes, securing opportunity for Nairnshire’s young families to live and work in Nairn?

Perhaps you see the future of Achareidh as a corner stone in a green resilient Nairnshire, building on in-town green space and allotment farming, or perhaps you see the site as an extension of Community Amenities with development potential for an activity space in Nairn centre?

We’d love to receive your thoughts directly at lpp@nicenairn.org.uk, or leave a comment below.

Figure 1:Auldearn settlement map, Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan 2, page 100, published for consultation 25th March 2023

Auldearn is represented in the IMFLDP2 as a Main Settlement, for Local development as a Tier 3 settlement. For comparison, a Tier 1 settlement includes “good active travel and public transport links”, whilst a Tier 4 settlement offers “very limited employment, transport options and services.”, which due to being “almost exclusively dependent on car based travel” are not “appropriate locations for any significant development”. Reference Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan 2, published for consultation 25th March 2023, paragraph 28 and Table 2 Settlement Hierarchy, pages 31 and 32..

Auldearn is represented with only one future land allocation AU01. AU01 is designated for housing, with an indicative capacity of 30 new homes.

What do you think?

Does this IMFLDP2 AU01 Land at Meadowfield satisfy your hopes and ambitions for Auldearn, a key settlement in Nairnshire and the wider Highlands?

How could you see AU01, or any other packet of land, be best used to serve:

• Community Amenities, including schooling and healthcare
• Green, Resilient Nairnshire
• Getting Around, including active travel, access for all, and general mobility in Auldearn
• Local Employment and Business growth
• Town Centre and Tourist Welcome, including regeneration

Please do send us your thoughts directly to lpp@nicenairn.org.uk, or by leaving a comment below.

…and this is the year that we are going to make it happen!

On Friday, 27th September, Highland Council closes registration for Local Place Plans. “Once registered, Local Place Plans will be taken into account as evidence for the new Local Development Plan and can also be a material consideration when planning applications are being considered.” Reference The Highland Council Local Place Plans

Your Local Place Plan is being worked on now. This includes:

• the Initial Community Survey, completed over Summer 2023
• Community Group consultations, which have been running over winter 2023 and culminate in the Community Group Consultation event on 15th January
• a Highland Council engagement event on 5th February, to consult with and engage across all aspects of the Highland Council delivery leaders, such as Active Transport, and other groups including Highlife Highland and HIE
• our Community Engagement programme, set to run through March reaching out to all areas represented by the Nairnshire Local Place Plan

Whilst the schedule is worked through, you can still submit your suggestions and recommendations and ask any questions through your Local Place Plan team, by email at lpp@nicenairn.org.uk, in person in our open Thursday’s at the Nairn Community and Arts Centre, or by posting a comment online.

Don’t leave it too late. Get in touch and help to make Nairnshire your Nairnshire.

#teamnairn

Following our Initial Community Survey undertaken in the summer of 2023, our consultation and community engagement for the Nairnshire Local Place Plan (the ‘LPP’) progresses to our first community group consultation event on 15th January 2024.

We need your thoughts, your ideas, and your feedback to ensure the LPP accurately represents what you want your Nairnshire to be today, and for the future. You can raise your thoughts directly with your local Community Council. We have set out some useful links here, from identifying your Community Council to getting in touch with them.

If your Community Council is in abeyance for any reason, or if you would prefer to contact us directly, you can contact us at lpp@nicenairn.org.uk, or call in to our Nairn Community Centre office on a Thursday.

*We understand that Ardersier & Petty Community Council is currently in abeyance pending a future AGM and ballot. You can contact the LPP directly.

**We believe that East Nairnshire Community Council is currently in abeyance pending a future AGM and ballot. You can contact the Fornighty Hall Committee who will liaise with the LPP team.

30th November 2023

Over the summer, NICE undertook an Initial Community Survey as groundworks for the forthcoming Local Place Plan. The survey was directly posted throughout Nairn, and available online. We received more than 450 individual responses from across Nairn and Nairnshire, and through all age groups. Your input is what we need to make the Local Place Plan work, and to ensure that Nairn thrives as the town we all want it to be.

As we analyse your responses, find trends, groups of ideas, and begin to prepare the foundations for our Community Consultations, one of our first outputs is a word cloud. A word cloud finds key words in all of the responses, and simply arranges those in a descending size and centrality from most frequent to less frequent. This gives us a flavour of what you have said.

What do you like about living in Nairn?

Is there anything you don’t like about being in the Nairn area?

Whilst we continue to prepare for the Community Consultation phase of preparing the Nairn Local Place Plan, we would love to hear from you. You can engage with your local community council, or get in touch with us directly at lpp@nicenairn.org.uk

23^rd November 2023

NICE is pleased to welcome Kenny Spink on board as Local Place Plan Coordinator for Nairnshire. He will be taking forward in early 2024 an intensive programme of public engagement across Nairnshire and beyond with help from Highland Regeneration Fund. 

Kenny will be ably supported by specialist advisers, Becky Richmond (currently Black Isle Place Plan Coordinator) , Tibor Bandula (a building conservation specialist) and local website expert Ian Colquhoun.

We also have assistance from Ewen McIntosh – a Place Making officer from Highland Council and Iain Macpherson from Planning Aid Scotland. All will be ably supported by community volunteers, including senior pupils from Nairn Academy.   

If you’d like to help just let us know on LPP@nicenairn.org.uk and look out for more information on nicenairn.org.uk and our Facebook page for how you can get involved to have your say on what goes in the Local Place Plan in 2024. 

Local Place Plan public engagement will begin in 2024 with an ‘information download’ event for local community organisations. This will be supported by Planning Aid Scotland, who will explain how the Local Place Plan process will work and begin to explore some of the key themes emerging from our initial Local Place Plan Community Survey. Our summer survey received hundreds of responses from across Nairnshire, telling us what local people want for their place in the future (more on that on our next post).