Extra time for Nairn bridge feedback – after pressure from Nairn River Community Council
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A victory has been achieved by a community council, who are fighting against an unpopular plan for a footbridge that has been muted for its community.
Nairn River Community Council has put pressure on Highland Council to agree to rethink its plans for a footbridge, and have negotiated an extension to the consultation period, in order that people in the area get time to discuss what they want.
Initially the community council was given two weeks to get people to send their views to the local authority for a footbridge over the Inverness to Aberdeen railway line. The community now has until August 27 to lodge its view.
The bridge is worth an estimated £2 million and is being proposed by Highland Council in partnership with Sustrans, as an active walking route. It was to be funded in part by developer donations to a Highland Council fund - the money had been set aside to build a church, a school, a train stop, a shop and the footbridge.
The plans were described as "outlandish" as they proposed a 30 foot high footbridge, long access routes, and CCTV that looked directly into people's homes.
A quickly arranged community zoom meeting to discuss the project, due to tight timescales laid down by Highland Council, was chaired by Hamish Bain, Nairn River Community Council last Wednesday evening.
It was confirmed by a council representative, Bryan Stout, that the consultation period had been extended, and that nothing was on the table in terms of plans.
Mr Stout said a site visit organised with the community council would be cancelled, due to lack of support for any of the proposals.
Mr Stout, a principal engineer with Highland Council, attended the meeting on behalf of planners.
Explaining the sudden urgency of the building of the bridge, that was first talked about some 21 years ago, he said: "The elected members have been looking for this [bridge] for some time.
"[There is] £600,000 in donations to that fund [from the Lochloy developer] and that is why we need Sustrans, as they give us the opportunity to make up 70 per cent of the project, if we can keep them happy."
Mr Stout suggested the money could be used as match funding for the footbridge project, that would be worth upwards of £2 million.
Michael Boylan, a resident of the area, said: "I am not sure what problem we are trying to solve by building this bridge. We are building a bridge into an industrial estate for residents. But I don't think that the residents have said there is a problem.
"I can not imagine that anyone would find it reasonable that a multi-million bridge was built to meet the needs of half a dozen workers in a nearby retail park."
The community are now taking forward a survey to discuss what residents in the area want, and whether they prefer a footbridge to a road that links with the nearby A96.
