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Nairn as a local government district 1975 to 1996

Nairn (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Narann) is one of the 22 wards of the Highland council area and one of the 16 ward management areas of the Highland Council of Scotland. Also, there is a Nairn registration county and a Nairn lieutenancy area.

The ward elects four of the council's 80 members by the single transferable vote system of election, which is designed to produce a form of proportional representation. It is on the boundary between the Highland council area and the Moray council area, which lies to the east. Within the Highland area there is the Badenoch and Strathspey ward and the Inverness South ward to the south, and the Culloden and Ardersier ward to the west. To the north, the Nairn ward is bounded by the Moray Firth.^[1]

There are also historical senses of Nairn as a local authority area: as a burgh; as a county and; as one of eight districts of the Highland region. The burgh was also the county town. There has been no Nairn local authority area, however, since the district was abolished in 1996, under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, and the Highland region became one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. The existing ward was created this year, 2007, under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, and the ward management area, with the boundaries of the ward, is a component of local authority (Highland Council) management and committee structures which were also introduced this year, 2007.

Contents 1 Local government 2 The town 2.1 Current developments 3 Parliamentary burgh 4 Notes and references

Highland council area Shown as one of the council areas of Scotland

Although an autonomous local government area, the burgh and county town was officially within the county. Burgh and county were both abolished as local government areas in 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, and the same legislation created the Nairn district, with the boundaries of the county.

In 1996, under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, the Highland region became a unitary council area and the new unitary Highland Council adopted the areas of the former districts as management areas. The council abolished the management areas this year, 2007, in favour of three new corporate management areas and 16 new ward management areas. Six of the ward management areas consist of more than one ward and four, covering seven wards, are grouped into the Inverness city management area, which is within the Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey corporate management area.

The Nairn ward management area has the boundaries of the Nairn ward and is one of six ward management areas within the Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey corporate area. The ward is one of nine within the corporate area, and those wards elected 34 of the council's 80 members.

There is significant difference between the boundaries of the new ward management area and those of the management area which was used from 1996 until this year, 2007. The new area is smaller, part of the old area being now within the Culloden and Ardersier ward and within Inverness city ward management area 4.

The town is an ancient fishing port and market town. King James VI, when he travelled to London to become King of England, boasted that in his kingdom he had a town whose only street was so long that the people living at one end of it could not understand the language of the people living at the other end. He was speaking of Nairn, formerly split into Scottish Gaelic- and Scots-speaking communities. A town of two halves in other ways, the narrow-streeted fishertown surrounds a harbour built by Thomas Telford while Victorian villas stand in the 'West End'. It is believed that the Duke of Cumberland stayed in Nairn the night before the Battle of Culloden.

The town is now best known as a seaside resort, with two golf courses, a small theatre (called the little theatre) and one small museum, providing information on the local area and incorporating the collection of the former Fishertown museum.

In 1645, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the battle of Auldearn was fought near the town, between Royalists and Covenanters.

It was not until the 1860s that Nairn became a respectable and popular holiday town. Dr. John Grigor (a statue of whom is located at Viewfield) was gifted a house in this coastal town and spent his retirement there. He valued its warm climate and advised his wealthy clients to holiday there. Following the opening of the railway station in 1855, new houses and hotels were built in the elegant West End.

Nairn is known as a world class golfing destination, with two 18 hole courses. One of these, Nairn Golf Club is one of the great traditional links courses and was laid out by James Braid in 1928. It has hosted many tournaments culminating in the 1999 Walker Cup and is visited by golfers from all over the world.

It boasts more hours of sunshine than any other Scottish town, earning it the nickname "Sunny Nairn", (reputedly the Gulf Stream curls around the top of Scotland and ends in Nairn). The council was surprised in 1997 to have Nairn named by Tatler magazine as Britain's number one venue for outdoor sex. Charlie Chaplin used to holiday in Nairn. Its local newspaper is the Nairnshire Telegraph.

Nairn has a railway station on the Aberdeen to Inverness line. Originally this was the last stop on the line from London due to the inhospitable terrain on what is now the main Dava branch line to Inverness

The local football team is Nairn County F.C., who play in the Highland Football League. They recently picked up their first trophy in 31 years when they won the North of Scotland Cup 3-1 against local rivals Forres Mechanics F.C. at Grant Street Park, Inverness. The town has another football team, Nairn St Ninian, who are a junior outfit.

The town also has a local cricket team who play at the links during the summer months. The game was introduced to the town by English railway navvies.

The town also hosts the Nairn International Jazz Festival^[2] each August, usually attracting some well-known and world class musicians.

Nairn also stages one of the biggest Highland games in the North. The first event was held in 1867, and it is now one of the few where entry remains free. The games are a major event in the local social calendar.

William Whitelaw the British deputy Prime Minister 1979 - 88 was born in Nairn and has a street named after his family.

James Augustus Grant who discovered the source of the Nile together with Speke was born at Househill, attended Nairn Academy and died at Nairn in 1892. There is a plaque to his memory in St Paul's Cathedral.

Nairn sadly has one of the most malnourished and poorly performing schools in the United Kingdom.^{[citation needed]}

The A96 from Inverness to Aberdeen currently passes through Nairn town itself, and Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, has been pushing for a Nairn by-pass to be developed^[3].

At present Scottish Executive investment in the transport infrastructure has focused on the Inverness to Nairn stretch of road, especially to improve links to Inverness Airport^[4].

However, there are no current plans to build a Nairn by-pass until after 2011. A consultation is currently planned to 2007, which is expected to determine both the feasibility of a Nairn by-pass, as well as a potential time-scale for development.

In the meantime, land to the east and south of the town is being considered for the further development of 1400 houses, with additional plans submitted by Lord Cawdor to double the size of the town over the next 10-15 years through private investment^[5].

The burgh of Nairn was a parliamentary burgh, combined with the burghs of Inverness, Fortrose and Forres, in the Inverness Burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. In 1832, however, the boundaries of burghs for parliamentary election purposes ceased to be necessarily those of burghs for other purposes. The constituency was abolished in 1918 and the Forres and Nairn components were merged into the then new constituency of Moray and Nairn.

1. ^ New Boundary Maps/Wards, Highland Council website
2. ^ See Nairn International Jazz Festival
3. ^ Parliamentary Questions & Answers
4. ^ A96 Corridor Plan
5. ^ New Future for Nairn

Coordinates: 57°35′N, 3°52′W