Barbara ‘Babs’ Jarvie says her first few months in Highland Council have been ‘eye opening’ and she loves wondering what will come next.
The conservative councillor won a convincing victory in the Nairn and Cawdor, and has hit the ground running.
As a resident of neighbouring Balloch, Mrs Jarvie says she knows the large ward very well already. However, since her election she’s been impressed by the sheer diversity of the area and its people.
Asked her priorities for the years ahead, she says she’ll be led by what the community tells her.
‘These little voices aren’t heard enough’
So far, it seems they’ve been telling her quite a lot.
“They’re really chatty people in Nairn, and they want to engage,” she says. “There are so many groups I didn’t even know existed who are all doing good and have such strong community spirit.”
For example, Mrs Jarvie recently met with Nairn Access Panel and says they really opened her eyes to little overlooked details, like parking bays and dropped kerbs.
“These people don’t get paid and don’t ask to get paid,” she says. “They just volunteer their time to help people with access. I’m discovering there are all these little voices that aren’t heard enough but make brilliant suggestions.”
Councillor Jarvie lives in Balloch but says she knows Nairn well. “Nairn is not just the town. It goes way out to nearly Lochindorb and the border’s so squiggly it kind of goes out to the viaduct and nearly over to Clava. So I’m literally just over from the border.
“I know it well because I’ve worked across Nairn. I have a dog, I’ve had two kids, so you don’t live that close to a beach and not frequent it a lot.”
Mother and son
Speaking of family, Mrs Jarvie’s son is Councillor Andrew Jarvie. The conservative councillor is serving his second term, this time representing Wick and East Caithness.
It’s thought to be the first time a mother and son have been elected to Highland Council at the same time. Last political term, Highland had a husband and wife in Ian and Muriel Cockburn, plus siblings Deirdre Mackay and Karl Rosie.
Did Andrew prepare his mum for council life? Babs neatly sidesteps the question.
“Different areas have different issues,” she says. “Nairn is a seaside town in a historic, rustic area. I’m told it has the highest elderly population in Scotland. There are lots of people here who have stayed for generations and never moved away.”
This, she says, gives it a special charm and a great sense of community spirit.
Support for Nairn bypass
It also inspired local members to work cross-party on a recent motion to Highland Council. Councillor Trish Robertson tabled a motion urging the Scottish Government to press on with the Nairn bypass, part of its A96 dualling plan.
The Lib Dem councillor’s motion won support from all the Nairn councillors, including Mrs Jarvie (Conservative), Laurie Fraser and Michael Green (Independents) and SNP member Paul Oldham.
Unfortunately, Scottish Government documents now suggest the Nairn bypass and Inverness-Nairn dualling hang in the balance amid budget issues.
Mrs Jarvie is adamant that the bypass needs to “crack on”.
“Yet again Nairn receives let downs on repeat regarding the Nairn bypass, as it remains unfairly superglued to the bottom of the priorities list for over 30 years,” she says.
Looking ahead, Mrs Jarvie says she’ll always look to the community to steer her priorities. “My plans are whatever people come to me with,” she says. “That’s as it should be. When you see people who are already helping the community, you really want to help them get it over the line.
“I just love it.”
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