Wick ‘dismal’? What can be done to reverse town’s fortunes?

By Dan Mackay

Is Wick in the final death throes of a terminal decline?

Can anything be done to avert its ailing fortunes?

It was our national bard, Rabbie Burns, who wondered “wha wid the giftie gie us, tae see ourselves as ithers see us”…The Lonely Planet book of Great Britain – part of a global series of guides which offer expert advice about potential destinations – had no hesitation in describing Wick as “a sad little town full of cut price shops and boarded-up buildings”. The Venice of the North we were not.

Admittedly that quote was from an older edition.Their updated issue of the royal burgh warranted a one-word entry: “dismal”. Oucha! A tad harsh?

It seems everything in Wick is up for sale at the moment. Want to buy an hotel? You can choose between the Mackays, the Queens or the Nethercliffe. Or what about the town centre Crown bar? See yourself as a restaurateur? Then what about DeVita’s Italian restaurant or the Wicker’s World café at the harbour?

The High Street is on its knees, a story mirrored in practically every town centre up and down the land.

There’s a lot to lament. Many remember the so-called good days when Wick’s small, independent retailers created a thriving business environment. Back then the town had a real buzz – we even had a Woolies!

It felt like a golden age – although we did not know it at the time. Cabrelli and Cardosi Italian cafes - long since gone. Houston’s for a fish supper, or the Lamplighter for a meal.

Slowly those independent retailers began to close as the much larger supermarkets hustled in.

Of course we brought it on ourselves. The ease of shopping under one roof in edge-of-town retail parks. Online shopping with the likes of Amazon and eBay.

Now the deeply depressing town centre seems a proliferation of Asian or Oriental take-aways, another sign of the times.

And what better time to install automated barriers to Wick High Street, a place which has so little to offer that few visit?!

It seems typical of the huge disconnect between local politicians and the people they are elected to represent. Yet they managed to pass through huge pay hikes to their own annual salaries while, all the time, Audit Scotland has damned Highland Council as the worst in Scotland!

Wick would very much be on its knees if it were not for the quite incredible contributions by the army of volunteers who maintain a strong sense of civic pride and duty to others.

Whether it’s the local Paths group, the Wick Floral volunteers, those helping at the Pulteney Centre, the Newton community foresters, to name but a few. Truly, “Wick Works Weil”.

It’s not all doom and gloom. We have a magnificent marina, a grand new campsite, a growing number of self-catering apartments, the very fine Puldagon restaurant, a new seafood outlet at the harbour, not forgetting the established Osagie’s takeaway van.

And just like everywhere else in the country the recovery from the Covid pandemic continues to be a long and painful one for businesses.

And now a new Caithness plan is setting out aspirations for the county. The “ambitious but realistic” Highland Council endeavour has been launched by joint-chairmen, Councillors Andrew Jarvie and Karl Rosie – both men unknown even in their own constituencies.

Don’t hold your breath.

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