Cat calls get personal in Nairn housing row
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A NAIRN councillor in the process of selling her land to make way for more than 100 hotly-contested new houses claims she was hit by such a barrage of ill-will from objectors she had to buy herself a "stress-busting" cat.
Councillor Liz MacDonald claimed she was attacked on social media, friends turned against her, and the issue became "very personalised" during discussions at community council meetings.
But she says Bella has taken the brunt of the strain.
"I got the cat because I thought it might be something to help calm me down", she said.
"She’s my stress-busting cat and she’s had a very tough job to do."
The SNP councillor serving Nairn for nearly two decades has a contract with Springfield Properties who secured planning permission last week to build 115 homes on her 17-acre triangular grassland plot at Lochloy, Kingsteps.
It was approved despite objections from a pressure group and 43 individuals citing concerns about over-development, traffic congestion, a lack of "affordable" homes, lack of open space, adverse impact on the rural community, impact on wildlife, lack of local infrastructure and flood risk.
Nairn River Community Council also opposed saying it wanted an A96 bypass "back on track" before such a development was approved.
Cllr MacDonald, who still owns 15 acres further out Lochloy Road, said she knew there would be objections but the planning process was more stressful than she had imagined. She said: "I don’t think anyone else would have got as much hassle as I did and that’s because I am a councillor – but I have stuck down the line to the [Highland Council] code of conduct."
She went on: "There have been some people that I thought were relatively good friends of mine that have turned out not to be.
"There have been a lot of personal attacks on social media and I’ve had several uncomfortable occasions while attending River Community Council during the period of the application because the issue has been very personalised during some of their discussions.
"Why can’t they just accept that Nairn needs houses? There were 397 names on Nairn’s housing list the last time I checked."
Tommy Hogg, Nairn River Community Council chairman, denied the claim.
He said: "There was nothing personal about our discussions. It doesn’t matter who is doing the housing.
"Our opinion, and the opinion of many others, is that the infrastructure is not capable, that part of Nairn is creaking at the seams – the sewage infrastructure in particular."
Scottish Water did not object to the scheme, however.
And asked about whether she had any concerns about the impact on the town’s roads and other infrastructure, Cllr MacDonald replied: "The professionals think the right infrastructure is there. And it’s on the right side for getting onto the town’s sewage works."
She welcomed the housing scheme, saying 29 of the 115 houses would be "affordable homes", most probably Highland Council-owned, giving poorer families the chance to live "in the one of the best sites in Nairn".
She said: "No development land has been opened up in the last 20 years in Nairn and I anticipate other sites will be opened up in this term particularly at Sandown.
"I also hope that the community will be positive about future proposals because there is a desperate need for housing."
