Helping to develop community vision

Local team or forum will be tasked to progress Charettes

MEMBERS of the Thurso and Wick communities have helped to develop a new vision for the towns by participating in events known as Charrettes.
The Charrettes included well attended workshops held over two days in both Thurso and Wick and culminated in report back sessions in Wick on Tuesday and Thurso on Wednesday. Proposals included new development opportunities, regeneration and improvement of key sites in the towns as well as better ways of working together to deliver these proposals.
The Charrettes were organised by The Highland Council to enable local communities to influence the future of their town through a new Local Development Plan for Caithness and Sutherland. The outcomes from the Charrettes will be reflected in the first stage of the new Plan to be published later this year.
Leader of the Caithness and Sutherland Area, Councillor Deirdre Mackay added: "I think it's really important to reinforce the value of the process in terms of harnessing people's ideas and converting them into a real vision for the future."
Councillor Gail Ross, Caithness Civic Leader, said: “I would like to thank everyone who made this event possible but most of all the members of the public that turned up to give us their ideas and their vision for the future of Wick. I think the main message was, that yes, there is a lot of investment coming to the town in the next few years but we need to make sure as a community that we keep making improvements for future generations to come. We have so much to offer up here, let's start shouting about it!"
Scott Dalgarno, The Highland Council’s Development Plans Manager, was pleased with the positive response and input in both communities to the events.
He said: “The outcome of the Charrettes highlights the community's aspirations for new development, regeneration and improvement in these two towns. It’s been great to see people get involved in planning the future of their town and surrounding area - they have set the framework for a new Local Development Plan for the area. To deliver this vision, the council will be looking to set up a local team or forum to progress the outcomes of the Charrette alongside the Local Development Plan.”
The final report newsletters are available here for Thurso and Wick.

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