Ross MP tones down yellow peril office
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A ROSS MP has toned down a bright yellow sign that hangs over his new constituency office on Dingwall High Street after complaints it was spoiling the street-scape.
Skye, Ross and Lochaber SNP MP Ian Blackford dismantled two large side panels after a constituent complained he was undoing "all the good work to replace the High Street’s unsightly shop fronts in one fell swoop with the appalling yellow plastic frontage".
Old River Road resident Robert Moore raised concerns, saying the sign was "probably approved by some central office who knew little about Dingwall".
But Mr Blackford said he had only ever intended to create a warm and inviting presence on the High Street but if people had legitimate concerns he was always happy to address them.
"We have to make sure that people can find us easily," he said. "We wanted to create a place people would want to pop into and there’s an element of bright and breezy that goes with that but it’s not on the basis of looking to offend anybody."
Dingwall has been undergoing a shop front revamp in recent months with businesses being encouraged to restore their premises to their former Victorian glory with assistance of a grant from Historic Scotland under a scheme called the Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS).
Mr Moore, claimed the yellow shop sign took Dingwall "a major step backwards".
He said: "Has Mr Blackford even heard of the CARS scheme? I can only presume he has not otherwise the new frontage could never have been considered, never mind approved."
The town’s Independent councillor Alister Mackinnon believed there had been some misunderstanding over the sign.
He said: "To be fair to Mr Blackford, I understand he was not aware of the big yellow signs down the side of the building and as soon as he realised the situation the side strips were removed."
Graham MacKenzie, Dingwall’s SNP councillor, said: "Yellow and black are the SNP colours. I really don’t see what’s wrong with it. In fact, I think it’s next door to a bright pink sweetie shop. It’s giving the High Street a nice bit of colour. What could be wrong with that?"
