Traders say council's Academy Street traffic plans are 'delusional'
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Next week a full meeting of Highland Council will decide whether to support or reject the Inverness committee’s decision to proceed with plans to revamp Academy Street.
It was thought the matter had largely been resolved but because non domestic rates of Inverness city centre business make up about 10 per cent of the Highland total the issue has implications for the whole council.
Highland Council wants to end through traffic on Academy Street, force motorists onto other routes and cut the number of vehicle movements as whole by 75 per cent to qualify for millions in Scottish Government funding.
Those proposals have been, to say the least, highly contentious and now a range of businesses have spoken up, some for the first time, against the plans.
Donald MacLean, owner of Primo – “It is not a minority of us who object as the council would lead people to believe. Those who are pushing this through have absolutely nothing to lose if it doesn’t work out. Many of my sales come from passing traffic – only the other day I had an Italian couple come in because a shirt caught their eye whilst stopped at the traffic lights outside the shop.”
Russell Thompson, Black Isle Hostel – “The concern for us is cars using Post Office Avenue. We are a 54-bed hostel and constantly have to walk along that road with large laundry bags as part of our daily work. Our guests sometimes bring bikes with them and they are stored at our garage on Church street, it is too narrow for pedestrians, cyclists and cars, it is a real safety concern.”
Hugh Nicol, Riverside Gallery – “The Highland Council are totally delusional about where displaced traffic is going to go. The distributor road and Raigmore roundabout is presently a bottleneck which will only become worse.”Russell Thompson, Black Isle Hostel – “The concern for us is cars using Post Office Avenue. We are a 54-bed hostel and constantly have to walk along that road with large laundry bags as part of our daily work. Our guests sometimes bring bikes with them and they are stored at our garage on Church street, it is too narrow for pedestrians, cyclists and cars, it is a real safety concern. If this goes ahead, when the work is being completed, some of our guests work nights and have to sleep during the day. We will lose their business and won’t get it back. The hairdressers have elderly clients with mobility issues dropped off outside and lots of pedestrians use Post Office Avenue.”
Donald MacLean, Owner of Primo – “The businesses in the city centre who are worried about these proposals are being completely ignored. Consultation at the traffic order stages is far too late as the plans are more or less completed by then. It is not a minority of us who object as the council would lead people to believe. Those who are pushing this through have absolutely nothing to lose if it doesn’t work out. Many of my sales come from passing traffic – only the other day I had an Italian couple come in because a shirt caught their eye whilst stopped at the traffic lights outside the shop. They spent over £700. For the businesses and our staff affected it is our livelihoods. The council must think again as these proposals will result in many business closures at the worst possible time. If they go ahead don’t say they weren’t warned and overall I am just really disheartened at the lack of respect shown to our community.’
Hugh Nicol, Riverside Gallery – “There was a lack of proper consultation on Option B and the current proposal. It all seems driven by the fact that there is money available from Sustrans who are dictating what has to be done in the city and not what is actually good for the city. The Highland Council are totally delusional about where displaced traffic is going to go. The distributor road and Raigmore roundabout is presently a bottleneck which will only become worse.”
Peter Mason, Director, MacLeod and MacCallum – “I am sure we all want Inverness to be a successful and vibrant City Centre, but as a firm, Macleod & MacCallum have grave concerns about the Council proceeding with a proposal that so clearly does not have the support of the majority of businesses who make the City Centre viable. We all want a better environment in the City Centre and in particular along Academy Street, but the Council should not be disregarding the comments of the businesses whose livelihoods depend on it, and who probably spend more time in the City Centre than most. We have a particular concern about any proposals which might increase traffic along Post Office Avenue, which borders our offices – this is a narrow road, with narrow pavements and the last thing it needs is more vehicles.”
Tania Korad – Rouge Boutiques - “The council have already made up their minds about what is happening and they don’t listen. How is Crown going to cope with all the extra traffic? What infrastructure are they putting in place for Crown? They are putting children’s lives at risk. The route along the river was tried and tested and that didn’t work. We rely on local customers for our business to survive and if it’s too difficult for people to get here they won’t come. They should come and walk around with businesses and explain to us their ideas and help us to understand.”
