Dismay at clutter in Wick town centre car park
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Community councillors in Wick want to know when an unsightly pile of planks and other equipment will be cleared away from a town centre car park.
The lengths of wood are contained within a fenced-off section of the Camps car park along with a large "site safety" signboard and a "Covid-19 hand wash station" consisting of a sink beneath a dispenser for soap or hand-sanitiser.
The items are understood to have come from the nearby site at 126 High Street which was flattened last autumn. It had been occupied by the derelict Sloans shop.
It was announced last June that Sloans, along with the former Dominoes nightclub at the other end of High Street, would be knocked down, with ownership returned to the community once site clearance had been completed.
The move followed months of negotiations as part of the town centre regeneration effort led by Highland councillors for Wick and East Caithness.
Highland Council accessed grant aid from the Scottish Government’s Vacant and Derelict Land Fund and Town Centre Fund. This money was provided to the Highland Housing Alliance to acquire both properties and land and to manage the process.
Both sites will be transferred to Wick Development Trust – branded Wick's Heart.
Last month, additional funding of £12,000 was approved by the council's Caithness Committee to fix "inappropriate and unsatisfactory" stonework after the demolition of the Sloans building.
The matter was raised at Monday's virtual meeting of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council. Chairperson Joanna Coghill said a member of the public had been in touch to express dismay at the clutter in the car park.
Community councillor Allan Bruce said: “They are coming back to do some remedial work on the gable end of the building, but I still think it was a bit irresponsible of the contractor to walk away and leave it because they had only borrowed that space while that work was being carried out.”
Community councillor Alastair Ferrier felt that the demolished Sloans site would have offered enough space for a laydown area, and he was concerned about what might happen if some of the equipment ended up in the adjacent river harbour during stormy conditions.
“If some of that debris gets washed overboard that can then become a hazard to shipping,” Mr Ferrier warned.
Mrs Coghill also drew attention to the amount of rotting seaweed that has accumulated in the car park, saying it could be a slip hazard for anyone walking there.
Highland councillor Raymond Bremner said he would look into it.
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “The council is currently investigating the occupation of the site concerned at Camps car park, Wick.”
Later, Mr Bruce warned that some pavements in the town are “absolutely treacherous” to walk on because of rotting leaves.
He suggested arranging to borrow a Highland Council street-sweeping machine from Inverness for a couple of weeks to take it around Wick and “give the area a bit of a freshen up”.
