LETTERS: Rallying call to action to revive fortunes of Ross-shire county town of Dingwall – what do you think? Belladrum debrief on traffic impact a must ahead of next year's event
Living in nearby Tain, four years ago a visit to Dingwall was very much on the agenda for my wife and me. The town was bustling, every shop was occupied and there was an aura of well-being in the community.Today the picture is totally different. Empty shops and premises abound. We are not talking about a few empty businesses but the vacant premises extend into double figures.
As the former County Economic Development Officer for Sutherland – of 22 years standing – I still take particular cognisance of the economic welfare of Highland communities and I am saddened to see the county town of Ross-shire faring so badly
What is required, I would suggest, is a theme that Dingwall can cotton on to. In rural Galloway Wigtown is famed for its bookshops and Kirkcudbright for its arts and paintings. What I am suggesting is a theme based on the Brahan Seer which would have nationwide wide appeal. A museum dedicated to his life and works could be opened. Moreover, Dingwall is very much a Highland town and this theme could be broadened out to feature Highland culture and all the ancillary aspects of being in the forefront of a distinct highland tradition and heritage.
An ancillary aspect would be to highlight the history of the Strathpeffer Spa. I was instrumental – along with others – in bringing the National Mod to Golspie on two occasions and this afforded us with very welcome winter income.
The time is undoubtedly now opportune for Dingwall’s business fraternity and local politicians to get together to formulate a strategy to get the town back on an even keel again and this should be enacted upon expeditiously.
Ian MacKenzie Telfer
Birch Place
Tain
One of the organisers described it as "the best Belladrum ever" and the pictures captured by our photographers during the weekend testify to the fact that many festival-goers had a great time.
Recriminations though continue to rumble over the arrival of traffic at the site last Thursday with surrounding roads reduced to a near standstill at times and some local festival-goers reporting travel times of up to five hours. Some took to our social media pages to share their thoughts on the subject.
'Of course it was going to happen, that’s what happens when you sell extra tickets every year that make it over capacity.'
- Tina Robertson
'Increased ticket sales leads to more traffic who'd a thought...'
- Fiona Maclean
'What many who comment about this seem not to realise is that many attending Belladrum are locals. Also that locals not going could plan their day differently, after all it is only one day each year.'
- Jean Bell
'2x return trips to Muir yesterday 9.5 hrs'
- Quennie DE
'What they need to do is speed up entry to the site. It's all very well saying put it somewhere with great road access- but places with great road access are built up areas, where they can't put on a sprawling event- and even if there was the space, there would be objections from the locals. Every festival has the same problems- just listen to traffic reports during festival season. They have a one way system in place, but if people can't flow into the site, obviously there will be increasing queues, and the worst of them are on the Thursday. It is not new this year- it happens every year, queues back to Muir of Ord were happening 10 years ago. It won't be resolved until they can increase the speed of access onto the site, as that is the bottleneck that slows everything down. The quicker people can enter, the quicker the queue moves.
'Personally, I have never been to Belladrum, but the chances are they are single file at entry where checks are made- in which case they need to have an area where there can be several lanes for entry processes to be carried out.'
- Angus Scott-Brown
Read lots more of our Belladrum coverage here.
'Problem is that the Festival goers and organisers have no respect for the Locals that are trying to go about their daily lives, they seriously need to think about holding it somewhere with better road access and that won't disrupt Local Communities daily activities for example getting to and from their jobs on time without being delayed by these selfish festival goers!'
- Michael Ewan Thomson
'Hopefully sort the arrivals for next year.'
- Ronald Robertson
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