[ Just to say upfront that Mr Macaulay had been contacted both by my use of his election pamphlet email address and, as I was assured, via the Highland SNP Office further to my discussions with Mr Farlow. Mr Macaulay was kind enough to respond: I cannot think why I did not receive your initial
contact email. Even although the spam filter sometimes filters too broadly, I
always scan to see if something has been caught that should not have been]
Hi
I’m
not sure if we have ever met, but I’m Colin Macaulay and I am one of the SNP
candidates in Ward 19 – Nairn.
I saw
from the Gurn’s Nurn site that you have been striving to get in touch with
candidates – and not found that to be straightforward!
I have
not received any email or snail mail correspondence from you - so thought that I
would preempt! Hope that is okay?
I am
new to politics and am currently knocking on virtually every door on the West
side of Nairn – rural and within the Town itself. I’ve found the canvassing role
an extremely interesting one and have enjoyed listening to people and learning
of their specific or community-wide concerns. I’ve even attempted to resolve a
few issues – and it is very easy to identify with folk who say that they have
been passed from pillar to post!
In
terms of planning transparency, I’ve only ever been involved in the past as a
notified neighbour – and even then I’ve not objected at any point. However,
having thrown my hat into the ring I attended much of the Sandown lands charette
process earlier this year. I have to say that I thought that was a very good
model of community engagement – albeit that the advertising could have been
better.
Given
the structures that we have in Highland, I do think that it makes sense to fully involve our local
community councils in planning decisions. In many situations they should be
closer to the grassroots view of their specific communities, although
occasionally they may find it impossible to take an overview of what might be
best for a wider population of interest.
Additionally, as in all aspects of public
involvement and engagement, there are those who fail to participate for a wide
range of reasons – and therefore, Councillors will have to take a view about
what may or may not lie in the best interests of the population they are elected
to serve.
As you
will be aware, the SNP Group if elected have committed to decentralise many
aspects of the way the Highland Council has been operated. I 100% endorse that
view, to bring decision making closer to community level and to increase the
transparency behind any decisions.
To me,
it seems that Highland is “sub-national” Government rather than “Local”
Government. As such, political alliances make strategic sense – the alternative
is for individual so-called “Independents” to simply whistle into the wind. (It
has been suggested to me that many Independents are LibDems or Labour or Tory
candidates “in disguise” – having recognised that their actual allegiance have
become to a degree “toxic”.)
I look
forward to an independent Scotland reinventing Local Government – either on a continental
style or perhaps bringing back something akin to a pre-Wheatley Scottish
system.
Kind
regards
Colin
J Macaulay
