LORRAINE BREMNER MCRBIDE: Inverness city centre is a tourist magnet but there is still work to be done
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It has been a busy month for the team at Inverness city centre BID.
Our coach ambassadors assisted almost 15,000 cruise visitors to the city including some residents of the ship MS The World.
Given that the residents select their own itinerary and chose to spend two days in the Highlands reiterates that Inverness city centre and the surrounding areas remain a very desirable tourist destination, which forms an important part of our local economy.
That said, there is still work to do to develop and improve our city centre
and activity in this area by BID, our members and partners is ongoing and progressing.
BID welcomes, in general terms, for example the investment of £800,000 to revamp Academy Street which has the potential to greatly enhance this key area.
The current proposal can be viewed here.
BID also recently hosted an event for our members to meet with the Highland Council project team to find out more and provide feedback. Any city centre business which has not yet submitted their views can still do so here.
John McDonald, our BID community safety manager, also recently co-ordinated the implementation of five new public access defibrillators in the city centre.
The initiative was only possible due to collaboration between BID, Lucky2BHere, Highland Council, Duncan Fraser and John Munro Butchers, Hastie and Dyce Butchers and Cru Holdings Ltd (which operates a number of premises including Bar One, the Keg, the White House and Scotch and Rye) who generously sponsored a unit each.
Sadly, one defibrillator sited in Union Street has already been subject to unauthorised removal but we are grateful that this was reported by a member of the public to the police without delay which meant the life-saving kit was recovered and returned quickly to service.
BID would encourage anyone who witnesses any further such incidents to report these to the police immediately to ensure the machines are available to help save lives.
