The crazy world of waste 1

by Colin Campbell

DOES anyone know what the hell this is supposed to be? It’s been in situ at Friar’s Shott on the banks of the Ness since last November, and looks like part of a broken down wall that the builders forgot to knock down at the back of a building site. From whatever angle you examine it from, it has the appearance of some forgotten old ruin. Any day now, surely, someone would come along with a sledgehammer and apply the necessary finishing touches. Continue reading “There’s £60,000 available for this…”

The crazy world of waste 2

by Colin Campbell

THE warmest, sunniest Sunday of the year so far, and this area of the riverside looks as good as it’s ever done, natural, unspoilt and bathed in sunlit beauty. Isn’t sitting on a bench here in peace and tranquillity as people stroll by and kids play down by the waterside one of the Highland capital’s greatest small pleasures? But not for much longer – perhaps. Continue reading “There’s £300,000 available for this…”

The crazy world of waste 3

by Colin Campbell

WHILE hundreds of thousands of pounds are being squandered on riverside “artwork” no-one wants…this was the rather less “artistic” scene in Castle Wynd at the weekend. The city’s main toilet block locked and barred just after 4pm. Continue reading “And a sight that shames the city”

Inverness news and views comment

THE inclination to describe some councillors as “the clueless bunch” is tempting, to say the least. Because on one issue – whatever good they may have done elsewhere  – their silence has been deafening. Repeated attempts to extract a reaction from them and several others on what we have rightly branded “the Gathering Place scandal” have proved fruitless. They have been as forthcoming as a basket of dead fish. Continue reading “It’s time this clueless bunch stood up to be counted”

 

BEFORE going any further can we agree on the crucial point as to how many people took part in the latest nationalist march through Inverness. And that’s that the organisers should be allowed to dictate the number without contradiction. The argument after their last parade about the turnout went on for weeks. One rather nerdy individual said he’d videod it from an upper floor window along the route and had actually counted the numbers, one by one.Talk about sitting in a darkened room with nothing better to do. Continue reading “Frustrated nats deserve the chance to let off some steam”

 

THE COLIN CAMPBELL COLUMN

FEARS are said to be growing that plans for a new £80 million “state-of-the-art” prison for Inverness have been delayed indefinitely. It’s a point of view. But I don’t know anyone whose “fear is growing” over doubts over this new jail. Unless, maybe, those who are likely to end up inside it. It was first estimated to cost around £50 million. Then the next we heard it would cost £65 million. Now the price tag has risen to £80.5 million. What’s next? £100 million? £120 million? Continue reading “‘State-of-the-art’ new prison that may never now be built”

AS the furious row over the Ness riverside Gathering Place intensifies, questions are being raised over the project being the subject of a Christmas “carve-up”. The planning application for the development was submitted within Highland Council on Thursday, December 20, after months on the back-burner, at a time when it was guaranteed to receive the minimum of attention, either in the media or among members of the public. The party-time scheduling of the application leaves it wide open to accusations that it was calculated and deliberate. Continue reading “Was this subjected to a Christmas carve-up?”