The benchmark for a new Wick
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THE vision of a revamped town centre for Wick was perhaps best summed up by the introduction of flowers and a colourful street bench.
As part of engagement sessions led by the charity Sustrans Scotland, a street design team delivered a series of community activities at Caithness House and volunteers painted a bench outside the council offices then introduced planters filled with flowers to the area.
It is hoped that, on top of adding more greenery, these will stand as a symbol of the potential for Wickers to transform the High Street.
Sustrans’ project lead, Kasia Koziel, said she was awaiting feedback from local people as to whether the bench should become a "permanent fixture".
She said: "We're asking people what they want improved in High Street and Bridge Street and learning from them. We had a group of youths help paint the bench and add a planter alongside. It's an experiment in colour and we're interested to hear from local people what they think."
Bringing colour and vibrancy to the town centre is one of the key aims of the charity working in conjunction with Highland Council, the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council and the local councillors.
The Highlands and Islands development manager for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), David Richardson, said: "A tour round Highland towns reveals that the most successful tend to have attractive centres to which locals and visitors wish to go to relax as well as do business – and, most importantly, they have dynamic business leaders willing and able to roll up their sleeves and make things happen through community-driven initiatives.”
Mr Richardson pointed out that a report by FSB Scotland in August had highlighted the problems faced by high streets and looked at proposals to help transform town centres. "Real change can only come from within our towns themselves," he said.
That was what the Sustrans team was pushing for throughout last Thursday as they engaged with local people and invited them to share their ideas along with a cup of tea or coffee.
The newly painted bench, in a fetching shade of bright blue, became a focal point in Market Square as the sun shone down and stood perhaps as a small symbol of what could become a fresh and colourful town centre.
The afternoon event inside Caithness House was very well supported and the Sustrans team urged those attending to write down and record their comments. Activities included a map for annotations, a sliding scale using sticky dots, a quality criteria board, talking pictures for discussion, inspiration boards and paper survey sheets to be filled in that afternoon or before today's (October 23) closing date for comments.
A further session took place in the evening at the Pulteney Centre.
Ms Koziel said: "We used photographs portraying different details of the area and participants shared local stories related to areas and landmarks as well as indicating what works and what they would like improved."
Overall, the event was carried out in a genial spirit and Wickers had no hesitation in communicating their thoughts to the Sustrans team and local councillors.
Ms Koziel said the launch "did indeed get off to a great start" and says she looks forward to further public events and workshops planned for November.
Those unable to attend last week’s community activities can provide feedback and find news updates at https://wick.commonplace.is/comment
