Should the lack of any response after four weeks lead me to conclude there has been no physical building activity on the former mart site? Sadly I fear so.

The lives of the ghosts of sheepies past will not then be brightened by the cacophony of continuous ringing of tills at Christmas?

In the lifetime of the Org, Wick has enjoyed a massive new Tesco store, a substantial retail park, a brand new high school, two brand new primary schools, a big new council building and the architecturally splendid national nuclear archive. Have I missed anything?

Meanwhile Thurso has enjoyed er, nothing at all? Is it really nothing? Nothing on that scale anyway.

There have been developments at Scrabster but these have direct effects on relatively few of the people of Thurso.

I am delighted for the town of Wick and its wonderful people. The new facilities are well earned and richly deserved. But what is the future of Thurso and its people? I wonder if there is one. A bright one?