New tilt at art for River Ness despite tide of opinion earlier
MOVES are progressing towards finding a piece of Inverness riverside art to replace the controversial tilting pier that was sunk by public opinion.
The Inverness City Arts Working Group is in the throes of selecting an artist to come up with a concept or concepts that might find favour with the local population instead of the tilting pier.
Meanwhile the man who played a leading role in getting “the tilty” scrapped, is planning to stand for Highland Council in the May elections.
City accountant Donald MacKenzie started a petition against the £300,000 pier claiming it was a waste of money and not in keeping with the beautiful banks of the River Ness.
Now he has decided that instead of “standing outside and shouting at the ‘DDI’,” – what he refers to as “the department of daft ideas,” he will try and do so from inside the council.
Mr MacKenzie intends putting his name forward for the Millburn Ward as a Conservative candidate.
His petition against the tilting pier, earmarked for the riverside in front of Eden Court Theatre, followed his successful petition to stop an ambitious plan to clad Inverness Museum and Art Gallery in gold coloured metal panels.
Highland Council climbed down on the cladding issue after Mr MacKenzie’s petition gathered more than 4000 signatures.
Mr MacKenzie said the tilting pier, which would jut out over the water before dipping towards the surface under the weight of pedestrians, was a waste of money and would ruin the riverside.
He said this week: “We have a beautiful river and I would love to see people enjoy it more but I don’t think this was the way to do it. It was the wrong thing, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.”
The location for the pier in front of Eden Court came after riverside sites downstream at St Andrew’s Cathedral and Friar’s Shott were rejected by residents and councillors.
Mr MacKenzie said: “The council has put a budget in for artworks when they cannot afford to resurface Academy Street.
“Rather than putting something up that will only last five years, the council might be better buying a good painting.
“I think we have a history of not getting enough use out of our river but I would like to see something like the Ness Islands being given better seating and nicely painted railings, rather than something, at great expense, which would be a carbuncle on the riverside.”
He also called claims made by the council that the pier would bring an extra £150,000 a year into the city ‘nonsense’.
Councillors in support of the project have stressed that the money was allocated specifically for art projects at the river and cannot simply be used elsewhere.
The tilting pier was to be paid for through the £760,000 River Ness Arts project, funded through Creative Scotland, the City of Inverness Common Good Fund, Highland Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
David Haas, Inverness city manager for Highland Council, said yesterday: “The artist selection process is underway and we will have more information in early March.
“After the contractual appointment has been made we are planning for an opportunity for a media briefing at which time details of the appointment and other information will be made available.”
Councillors on the Inverness city committee voted 10 to seven to reject the pier despite a warning from Mr Haas that this might reduce the funding from other bodies that had been dependent on the pier project going ahead.
It is not clear what the new budget for the replacement artwork will be. Creative Scotland said it is likely to support an alternative artwork while Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) said it would also consider backing one, although once the tilting pier was refused, their original money was no longer on the table.
Creative Scotland said they were disappointed that councillors decided not to proceed with the “exciting artistic concept proposed for the Gathering Place.”
However the quango believes there remains a great opportunity to create an important work of public art that will significantly enhance the overall River Ness art project and enrich the riverscape for the community and visitors of Inverness.
Creative Scotland previously said its funding still remains and it will consider any new proposal and decide if the project was still appropriate to support.”
A spokesman for HIE previously said its share of the funding had been withdrawn but it may consider contributing to a new art piece.
However this could involve a new application if an alternative project was agreed and the council wanted to do something else.
Around £64,000 was lost through artist’s fees, design development and technical costs for the pier which have already been paid.
Mr Haas has previously said he was in discussions with Creative Scotland and HIE in relation to where the project goes next.
Meanwhile on a humbler scale, Crown and City Centre Community Council has commissioned a wooden bench for the riverside from the Men’s Shed community group at Merkinch.
There was some comment when “arty” slate seats were installed on the riverside in Huntly Street last year, but council chairwoman Pat Hayden said: “This bench is made of wood and it has a back and looks very comfortable. It also has a wavy design to reflect the movement of the river.”
