MERKINCH Community Council were delighted to hear at their June meeting that it seemed there was some progress on the redevelopment of Maclennan Crescent. Updated plans were to be on view the following week and Iain Mackenzie from the Housing department had said the last few weeks had seen some real progress.

The Council are to retain the west side of the street while a housing association will develop the other. Mr Mackenzie said 16 one-bedroom flats would be converted into eight 3-bedroom family homes, upper flats would have individual access stairs while those on the ground floor would have front and back doors. All would be double glazed. Tender documents are to be issued to contractors in September, with a site start in November.

• Guest speaker at the meeting was Karen Thomson from Inverness & Nairn Enterprise (INE) who explained a new programme of funding for Community Economic Developments. There would be money for small-scale projects and the community would choose their own priorities. Members agreed that the community council would act as a clearing house for ideas. The Welfare Hall, the West Field and the Dolphin Centre were all mooted as possible projects, but it was agreed that members should take the news back to their respective groups for their suggestions.
• Community policeman Norman Campbell, after five years in Inverness, is being sent back to Lewis. He is being succeeded by PC Ann Urquhart, the council heard. The fact that she is the first woman to work on this beat reflected the progress that had been made in the Merkinch area, PC Alasdair Stewart said. Ann’s father Murdo Urquhart is well known in Merkinch and her husband also comes from the area.
• Councillor Chrissie Cumming reported that there was to be action regarding certain disruptive tenants. These were very few but very disruptive and she and Councillor Corbett had “had enough”. She said the police had been called to one lady 200 times, but she had only appeared on four charges, another had caused problems for over nine months, with neighbours losing weight over the aggravation, noise and worry and witnesses had had their windows put in. PC Stewart said fortunately such cases were not common in Inverness, and another member commented that it seemed to be Highland Council’s legal department which dragged its feet over action against antisocial tenants.
• Clair Pieraccini from Merkinch Traders reported that the flower baskets were to be installed in Grant Street any day. (This has since been done). In Upper Kessock Street residents were still looking for Residents Parking Only signs to be put up.
• Brian Cain from South Kessock Residents Association said the show house would be opened on 9th August and praised the efforts of the community police who had worked very hard to put the front garden in order.
• Members agreed to donate a granite rosebowl for the grave of Morag Soane. Councillor Cumming said that when she was recently in the Inverness twin-town of Augsburg, people there remembered Morag kindly and were shocked to hear of her death.
• The matter of behaviour at meetings and Standing Order 5 rumbles on and members unanimously agreed that an apology would be expected from Mr D Kerr, the next time he attended a meeting.
• The next community council meeting will be on 8th August in the Community Centre.