Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Ambitious plans revealed to turn Nairn Harbour into watersports market leader

Nairn Harbour
Nairn Harbour

A Highland town could be in the running to become Scotland’s marine sports capital if ambitious plans to revamp its harbour are realised.

That’s the ultimate vision of wide-reaching plans to develop Nairn Harbour revealed yesterday.

Councillor Michael Green, chairman of Nairn Harbour Working Group, said improvements to the harbour could place the town “as a jewel in the national tourism crown”.

Immediate goals include opening up the harbour to more vessels by clearing silt which currently makes navigation challenging for visiting craft.

The harbour was last dredged in 1989 and is currently badly affected by silt dragged down the River Nairn and sand blowing off the nearby beaches.

Pontoons could also be installed to reduce pressure on berthing at the harbour, which currently has a waiting list of 32 boats.

Longer term goals include providing a “state of the art” water sports facility which would be capable of hosting international events.

The project was revealed at a meeting of Highland Council’s Nairnshire committee, chaired by Mr Green.

He told the meeting work could lead to Nairn becoming the “water-sports capital of Scotland”.

He said: “The draft proposals from the Nairn Harbour Working Group outline potentially the most exciting development in Nairn for a generation.

“Regeneration of the harbour and waterfront area is a strategic priority for Nairn and the creation of a development strategy will be a key action in promoting local economic activity and prosperity.

“The imaginative and technically competent proposals outline a vision to develop the harbour into a facility able to attract and accommodate a wide range of boats and yachts, plus develop the area into an international centre of excellence for water-sports.

“In addition, the development of the harbour and seafront area will act as a catalyst for town centre regeneration and in conjunction with our world glass beaches and golf courses will once again establish Nairn as a jewel in the national tourism crown.”

The plans are at a very early stage and will be put out to public consultation.

Funding has not yet been sought but Mr Green highlighted a number of potential sources of income for the project from the private and public sectors.

However, Councillor Liz Macdonald questioned the timing of the announcement, saying it was a “red herring”.

She added: “I’m really interested to see this coming forward and I would love to see future development at the harbour.

“I just think it is worth flagging up that the timing of the report is dubious.”

John Hume, chairman of Nairn River Community Council, said: “It’s certainly an interesting idea but I’m not sure where the funding would come from for it at the moment.”