Nairn councillors give green light for £16,000 grants to support Team Hamish and heritage trail projects
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TWO initiatives to boost Nairn’s appeal to both local residents and visitors are set to receive grants from a Highland Council fund.
The second phase of the Nairn Links Regeneration plans led by Team Hamish and Nairn Improvement Community Enterprise (NICE) has been awarded £11,000.
This takes the total funding raised by the charity – their own fundraising of £110,000 plus other grants – to £230,000, with planning permission for the development given the go-ahead last summer.
The aim is to create a revitalised gathering place suitable for events of various kinds on the Links.
Team Hamish founder Sam Hey said they were delighted with the support received.
“We can’t stress enough how grateful we are for the incredible support received from the community,” he said.
The latest funding boost approved by Nairn councillors comes from the Community Regeneration Fund and takes them closer to target for the project, which is under tender.
Mr Hey added: “We will have to wait for the outcome of the tendering process to know exactly where we are at in terms of budget. We are expecting to have the results in March and we’ll take it from there.”
Talking At the Nairn area committee meeting last week Councillor Michael Green said: “I think this is an incredible project, we’ll be giving the last part of the funding mosaic which should allow the project to get started in March and finish in June.
“There has been fantastic public support for this. We are very keen to award the full amount.”
Councillor Laurie Fraser added: “This will bring a great improvement of the area.There’s been nothing done there in the past 60 years. From the plans it looks ideal, hopefully drawing people to the area, and I see it being able to do a number of events there.”
Funding was also awarded for a new heritage trail project being driven by Nairn BID.
The aim is to replace and extend Nairn’s heritage interpretation boards, backed up with an online resource and interactive elements. It received around £5000 of funding.
