Dingwall aims to rise to business challenge
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BUSINESSES in Ross-shire’s county town are being urged to get behind a bid to breathe fresh life into the area.
The man spearheading the project to establish a Business Improvement District (Bid) in Dingwall is set to make a pitch to the local community at the home of Ross County Football Club at a business breakfast on August 29.
Dingwall Means Business project leader George Murray believes the business community can lead the way at a time when resources and services are being cut through targeted marketing and promotion befitting the Highland’s only market town after years of under-investment.
Mr Murray said: "As we have seen with the introduction of parking charges, officials are simply not listening to business people in Dingwall, Bid could change that. It would establish Bid as an authority that would work as a professional, business-oriented counter-balance to harmful decisions taken elsewhere. An organisation of first recourse that could actively advocate and lobby for the town and for what the town deserves.
"The fundamental point is that Business Improvement Districts work."
The initiative will see Mr Murray personally call on businesses while Lorraine Chisholm will be available for those who wish to drop-in to find out about the plans at its High Street offices.
The total available for investment could be up to £500,000 over five years and it would be spent in the way the local businesses best saw fit themselves. Businesses would be expected to chip in with some of the funding.
Already dozens of ideas have been put forward from reintroducing a farmer’s market on the High Street to creating heritage trails to exploit Dingwall’s colourful history.
The team is currently issuing and collecting questionnaires to canvas business opinion and say the response so far has been favourable.
He said: "We want to add to what Dingwall has to offer. Every business is a link in the chain. People should be able to make a good living in their home town and currently there is a feeling we are moving in the right direction."
More info can be found at www.dingwallbid.com
