Concerns months-long sewer work will 'gridlock' Nairn

A planned £3.4m sewer upgrade risks causing gridlock in Nairn while bringing "marginal" environmental benefits, community groups have said.

Scottish Water said its work on a storm overflow chamber and sewer pipeline in the town's Lochloy Road area would bring "important improvements" and avoid having to set up roadworks on the nearby A96.

The utility company said the work along Lochloy Road could take two months and construction in a nearby car park about eight months.

Nairn Improvement Community Enterprise (Nice) and Nairn River Community Council said disruption to the A96 was unlikely to be avoided and suggested there were alternative sites for the work.

The A96 Inverness to Aberdeen road passes through the middle of Nairn.

About 18,000 motorists use the trunk road between Nairn and Elgin, a town about 22 miles to the east, each day according to official figures.

Scottish Water said the work in and around Lochloy Road would avoid causing disruption on the A96.

But Nice chairman Dr Alastair Noble said the Lochloy area was home to about 2,500 people and the main route in and out was via its "struggling junction" with the A96.

He said: "Locals and tourists will have to sit in traffic jams while this work of marginal benefit goes ahead. It just doesn't make any sense."

Nice has called for a cost analysis study to be carried out on the planned sewer work.

It has also suggested the sewer could be better accessed where it passes through a grassy area called The Maggot.

Nairn River Community Council also opposes Scottish Water's plans.

It said volumes of sewage at the proposed site were "negligible", and the overflow could be worked on anywhere along its length with towards the River Ness.

Scottish Water said it recognised the work would cause some disruption for the local community, but the project would deliver important improvements.

A spokesperson said: "The investment at Lochloy Road forms part of our £500m Improving Urban Waters programme.

"The upgrade is designed to help protect the environment by significantly reducing sewer-related debris, such as wet wipes, entering the River Nairn during periods of heavy rainfall, while continuing to protect the local community from flooding."

The River Nairn flows into the Moray Firth between the town's east and west beaches.

The spokesperson added: "The planned works have been specifically designed to avoid extensive construction within the A96 carriageway itself.

"Once complete, the new infrastructure will be located away from the junction, reducing the need for future access to assets within this sensitive section of the road network."

Scottish Water is holding a drop-in information event at the Seaman's Hall Green Hive Community Hub in Nairn on Thursday between 16:00 and 19:00.