£150k funding to help redesign Wick's High Street – 'a great achievement for the town'
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Funding has been secured to take forward a redesign of Wick town centre that could lead to a £1 million-plus transformation.
Highland Council has been successful in obtaining £150,000 from a special fund to help move forward the redesign work.
Draft designs from the charity Sustrans Scotland were produced with the aim of making Wick's High Street and Market Square areas "more attractive, more accessible and more welcoming", as well as reflecting the town's cultural heritage.
Highland Council applied to Sustrans for £150,000 from its Places for Everyone fund to allow it to take forward the town centre redesign. The project taps into the "enthusiasm and determination" to highlight the many positive reasons to live in and visit Caithness.
The ambitious Wick High Street project brings together the Highland Council, the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council (RBWCC), local councillors, community groups and members of the public to work collaboratively to make improvements that will create a more welcoming and attractive town centre that people want to spend quality time in.
To get to this stage, the Wick Street Design project has been shaped by a series of public events and consultations held between September 2019 and June 2020 giving local residents and businesses opportunities to get involved.
The next step is to take forward the designs that have been developed following the consultation with the community and local stakeholders.
The designs aim to create a more comfortable and safer environment to walk, wheel and cycle. There will be better travel experiences through the town centre, particularly when accessing local facilities and, importantly, a revived sense of identity drawing on local culture and heritage, Highland Council said.
The Covid pandemic meant that little progress could be made last year but now the council’s in-house project design team is gearing up to take forward the designs and work is under way to recruit a local part-time manager for the project.
Councillor for Wick and East Caithness and chair of the Caithness area committee Raymond Bremner took the opportunity to thank everyone who has taken part in the project to date and has given his assurance that close ongoing engagement with all stakeholders will continue throughout the design process.
He said: “Firstly, we need to acknowledge the work of former councillor, Nicola Sinclair. If it wasn’t for her filling in the initial application form, this wouldn’t be happening.
"We took the attitude at the time of 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'. We were delighted when Wick was selected at that stage of the process.
"Since then, we’ve worked hard to get it through the various stages with all the challenges we faced, not least against all the other towns that submitted bids to get the same funding. After working with the Sustrans and council teams to now get to stages 3 and 4, we were thinking the worst because of the impact of Covid.
"However, I’m grateful that the council agreed to continue to support our work after Nicola resigned from the council and that our bid for the next stage of funding has been successful."
Councillor Bremner continued: "I can’t emphasise enough how important it is for the community to continue to support our efforts here. We now have just over 12 months to conclude the submission for the final stage – stage 4 – and deliver the completed project that will see the transformation of our town centre.
"That cost, as far as I’m aware, will be well over £1 million and will be one of the biggest town centre investment stories to hit Caithness in many years. It would be a huge boost to the town and the local businesses. We just need to keep focused for the next 12 months.”
Former councillor Nicola Sinclair said: "I'm delighted to see that Wick has moved to the next stage of the Sustrans project. It's kind of Raymond to recognise the work we started together. I got the ball rolling but he's worked absolutely tirelessly to get it over the line. The draft designs are stunning and I think they will breathe new life into the town centre."
She added: "The project has had great support from the public to date, and I remember the Sustrans team were blown away by the community spirit here in Wick. We won this funding against stiff national competition and it should be celebrated as a great achievement for the town. I wish Raymond and everyone involved every success and can't wait to see it delivered."
A spokesperson for the community council said: "Having been involved in this project from the start, RBWCC are delighted that this collaboration has been successful in securing Sustrans funding and we are now at this next planning stage of improving our town centre.
"This project will give such a boost to our town, encouraging locals and visitors to explore, enjoy and spend time here in the centre of Wick and putting it firmly back on the map of places to visit."
Once the new local project manager is in place part of their role will be to provide regular updates on progress to the community.
