Nairn River Community Council members accused of “unwelcoming, arrogant and rude” behaviour
A group of Nairn residents are calling out a local community council, accusing it of ignoring their views and being unrepresentative.
The Inverness Courier has heard from several people in Nairn - including the Provost of Nairn Laurie Fraser - who variously accuse some members of Nairn River Community Council of being “unwelcoming”, “rude” and “arrogant”, raising concerns about transparency and openness.
Members of Queenspark Residents Group are among those who say the conduct of some of its community councillors is discouraging members of the public from taking part.
The group’s chair, Morag Anderson, said interactions with the community council have been difficult since she moved to Nairn at the tail end of the Covid pandemic.
“Every meeting that I have been to, they have been unfriendly, arrogant and rude,” she said.
“The behaviour towards myself personally and other members of the public that came along has been appalling.”
She has formally complained twice, and in the most recent complaint - referring to a meeting held in May - she addressed the community council’s chairman Hamish Bain, saying he had “disrespected members of the public” by not including them in the meeting, and leaving only a couple of minutes for them to make any comment - over a two-hour-long meeting.
She said: “The public are not given agendas, minutes or other papers when attending meetings. How are members of the public supposed to follow along with the business of the meeting without the papers?
“Members of the public are also denied the opportunity to comment on incorrect points in the minutes before they are proposed even if they were at the previous meeting. And there have been many inconsistencies. Our opinions are not asked for, valued or noted.
“How can members of the public have confidence in a community council which treats them with such disdain?” she asked, saying that other community councils, such as Nairn West and Suburban, provide draft minutes “as a matter of course”.
In 2021, five members of the community council resigned after a rift which led to the formation of a breakaway group.
Former community council member, Stewart Stansfield, who was among those who stepped down, said he isn’t sure “they can be seen as representing the community”.
He said: “We resigned because of the treatment received, and the failure of us as members to be able to change anything.
“The difficulty in achieving a wider pool of participants is that there isn’t a wider pool, because of the way they conduct themselves at meetings. They are not run to include the public, and when they do attend, they are treated with disdain and bordering abuse.
“I represent community groups Nairn Access panel and Nairn Play, and we never had any support from Nairn River despite driving improvements for the community. What’s happening to Queenspark now, a group striving to improve things for its residents and encourage Highland Council to improve things by meeting its responsibilities. Being one of the lowest-ranked area in Nairn’s community in terms of deprivation, they should be seeing these improvements.”
Ms Anderson and Mr Stansfield said that Nairn would be “better served” by merging the existing two community councils into one.
And David Ross, who was until recently a resident of Queenspark, said he had been to a few community council meetings.
He said: “It just seems to me that they don’t want members of the public at their meetings, and they don’t seem to take what anybody says seriously.
“They are not very welcoming at all, it just feels as if they don’t want anyone else in the room apart from themselves.”
Two other members of the group told us they held the same views.
Another Nairn resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said he found the behaviour of the community council “hostile” and “very unwelcoming”, where the conduct of some of the members is “mocking” and “belittling” towards people in attendance.
He said: “I have been to several meetings in the past, and it always feels very uncomfortable. It’s a very odd experience going to these meetings.
“There is a lot of ground-standing and negativity in the way NRCC operates, and never actually doing anything positive.
“They are not interested in hearing alternative views and they have their own set agenda. They don’t see the bigger picture and miss out on opportunities for Nairn.”
Provost of Nairn Laurie Fraser said he stopped attending the NRCC meetings, saying they were “achieving nothing” and “abusive” toward councillors and other participants.
“I recently went to a meeting of Auldearn community council, and everyone behaved properly, we got business done and listened to what the residents had to say. It’s a pleasure to go to these community councils. That’s not the case for Nairn River, unfortunately.
He added that he had raised a problem of their behaviour at a full council meeting but said that “unfortunately, there is nothing in legislation we can do.”
Area Leader for Nairn, Michael Green, added: “The latest complaints regarding NRCC are disappointing, but not unexpected. I stopped attending their meetings as I found them dysfunctional and adversarial. If NRCC cannot conduct business in a fit and proper fashion and start to represent more fully the views of its constituents, then voters will, quite legitimately, demand change.”
Nairn Councillor Barbara Jarvie, commented: “Community councils are meant to represent all the residents that live in that area, and all in equal measure. Members of that community should feel free to raise an issue, whether online or in person, with the expectation that their community council should support them without any bias.
“Nobody should feel unwelcome at a community council meeting. They are a statutory body and are there to raise issues for the local public in their area, and that’s why Highland Council and councillors support them as a body, it’s a good voice for the public, and they have the weight to address issues. Some act very professionally, so all should act professionally at all times.”
Rules for community councils across the Highlands are set out in the Scheme of Establishment for Community Councils, which is reviewed on a periodic basis - with a fresh review process set to be carried out in the coming months.
The current version states: “As a Community Councillor you have a duty to act in the interests of the local community, which you have been elected or nominated to represent.
“You have a duty to establish and reflect, through the Community Council, the views of the community as a whole, on any issue, irrespective of personal opinion. You should ensure that you are, within reason, accessible to your local community and local residents.
“Various mechanisms to allow the general community to express their views, i.e. suggestion boxes, community surveys, opinion polls should, where possible, be made available.”
A motion by Highland councillors Struan Mackie, Ruraidh Stewart and Matthew Reiss due to be discussed at the full council at the end of October calls for community councillors to be considered within the scope of the Ethical Standards in Public Life (Scotland) Act after other concerns about community councillor’s conduct were raised in other parts of the council area.
Nairn River Community Council chairman Hamish Bain commented stating that the most recent complaint Ms Henderson sent had been “fully considered” and that there was “no point in adding to the full reply already provided”.
He added: “Ward Councillors are ex-officio CC members. None have previously raised concerns directly. The proper way to do so is at a meeting or with office-bearers. It is part of elected councillors’ duties to attend community council meetings in order to provide feedback on matters relating to Nairn to the Community Council. Sending apologies or simply not turning up as the Councillors’ chosen way of boycotting meetings is neither responsible nor respectful to the residents of the Nairn River area.
“The unpaid elected volunteers who serve on the NRCC will continue to strive to reflect all sections of the community, and looks for support, openness, and transparency, not hostility, from paid elected Ward Councillors in its efforts to promote and protect the interests of the town.”