Wick town centre to get £2m transformation – ‘It will be so much more appealing’
Wick looks set to benefit from the biggest investment in years with more than £2 million awarded to transform the town centre.
Raymond Bremner said the successful funding bid was the culmination of a project that began seven years ago and had succeeded through patience and commitment.
The Wick and East Caithness councillor said he understood the Wick Street Design project, which includes the rising bollards traffic management system currently being installed in High Street, was worth around £2.1 million.
It will include a complete overhaul of High Street, with new surfacing, street lighting, seating areas, artworks and planters, as well as improvements to the junction with Bridge Street to help pedestrians cross more safely.
Highland Council improved the road surface at the corner last year at a cost of around £500,000, but further changes will be made to the layout as part of the new funding package, from the Scottish Government’s Active Travel Infrastructure Fund.
“The whole of the town centre is going to be replaced in accordance with the redesign,” Cllr Bremner said. “The whole aesthetic look of the town centre will be redone. The area where people were finding it difficult to cross the street – even though we’ve done that part with the new road surface, there’s a small part that will be redesigned to make it easier for pedestrian access.”
Work on the bollards is currently under way, with the traffic management system aimed at reducing illegal use of the street as a shortcut.
The money for the Wick Street Design is part of a wider £26 million package being given to several active travel projects across the country.
Elsewhere in the Highlands, changes to the routes around the Raigmore Interchange at Inverness will cost £2 million, while Culbokie in Ross-shire will become an “ Active Travel Village” with improved paths and road crossings.
Cllr Bremner said the Wick project involved members of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council and was submitted by himself and then fellow councillor Nicola Sinclair. “She and I were doing whatever we could, desperate to find any mechanism that would attract some sort of funding to be able to help us with Wick town centre,” he said.
“She came across this, and at that time the council were focusing on a lot of different things, so we decided we would just focus on what we thought was good for Wick.
“She filled in the application form, ran it past me and I said ok, it’s now or never. We were new councillors at the time – we had no idea we should maybe have spoken to the officers at the council – then she pressed send. It went in, it was assessed and then we secured the stage one funding.”
After a delay for Covid, there was an opportunity to reignite the scheme with funding for “shovel-ready” projects, and that is when funding for the bollards was secured.
Then this week a delighted Cllr Bremner realised that the wider project had been successful in its bid. “It will see the place look so much better and so much more appealing,” he said.
There are hopes that the improved environment of the town centre will help to attract new business to the area and reignite its potential.
He said that leaflets had gone out to proprietors in the High Street advising them about the traffic management system, and added that there would be drop-in sessions where people could find out more once a go-live date has been determined.
“More information will also be released in the press so folk are well aware of how it will work before it goes live,” he added.
While the formal award letter was yet to be received, Cllr Bremner said Wick looked to have won almost 10 per cent of the overall Scotland-wide funding package.
He added: “Who thought that seven years on it would take so long to chase down, but we’ve held to it and the patience and the commitment has paid off.”
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “The Wick Street Design project began with a consultation process carried out by Sustrans following a successful funding bid by a partnership including Highland Council, the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council and Caithness Community Partnership.
“The project team worked collaboratively with the local community of Wick between September 2019 and October 2020 to develop a concept design to make improvements to the town centre, which included the installation of rising bollards in the pedestrian zone.
“Highland Council then secured funding from Sustrans to progress the project to detailed design stage.
“Transport Scotland awarded Highland Council construction funding from the 2024-25 Tier 2 Active Travel Infrastructure Fund in November last year, specifically for the rising bollards and these are now being installed in the Wick High Street pedestrian zone.
“Wick Street Design is included in Transport Scotland’s project funding from the 2025-26 Tier 2 Active Travel Infrastructure Fund. The design team in Golspie is now working on finalising the tender documents and drawings and these will be issued in due course.
“The stage of the design for the pedestrian zone includes new paving, seating and planting as well as the realignment of the roadway. The design for Bridge Street/High Street junction includes footway widening, raised pedestrian crossings and new traffic signals.”
Councillor Ken Gowans, chairman of the economy and infrastructure committee, said: “The council is working to deliver a low carbon transport network to tackle the climate and ecological emergency. Essentially this means making it easier, safer and more convenient for people to walk, wheel and cycle.
“The projects in Wick town centre and in Culbokie on the Black Isle both complement our work already under way and I’m delighted we can now press on with plans at both locations.”
The Raigmore Interchange scheme will be taken forward by Transport Scotland.