A Highland provost has called for a halt to any major development in and around his town because of a desperate lack of infrastructure.
Laurie Fraser yesterday told council colleagues that Nairn had “reached the limits of its expansion,” and the proof was the worsening daily gridlock within its boundaries.
He warned that imminent traffic problems elsewhere in the area would only exacerbate things.
A weight restriction will be imposed next month on the White Bridge crossing of the River Nairn near Cawdor, leaving many regular users no obvious alternative route until Highland Council builds a new bridge elsewhere for heavier vehicles.
Members of the Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey area committee, meeting in Kingussie yesterday, had little option – for legal reasons – but to agree a planning blueprint for Nairn and a Nairn South masterplan.
But Mr Fraser said: “Nairn has reached the limits of its expansion with the current infrastructure we have. I’m seriously concerned.
“We should be curtailing some of our long term plans because the situation has changed in the last few months. The White Bridge near Croy is needing replaced. The reality is that the existing roads and other bridges in the area just can’t take any heavy use if the infrastructure through Nairn starts to break down.
“We need to look at the structure further out because of the impact of a blockage in Nairn. The delays of going through Nairn, working in the town, are getting to the point that the whole thing is becoming stagnated.”
Mr Fraser said he was concerned a major developer would submit proposals and, this time next year, little will have changed in terms of new infrastructure.
“I remember having the debate 20 years ago – ‘has the town grown big enough?’ We keep adding more to it but do nothing about the infrastructure,” he said.
Principal planner Brian MacKenzie told him the authority was obliged to prepare a Nairn masterplan and that a transport appraisal would identify a broad scope of infrastructure requirements within Nairn and its surrounding communities.
Failure to do so, he said, could leave the council unable to determine planning applications which would then automatically be handled by Scottish Government ministers.