Time called on eyesore pub as critics say it is freeloading with 'tacit' council approval
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TIME has been called on inaction over a semi-derelict former pub declared a major embarrassment to Ross-shire's county town.
Amid wider efforts to breathe fresh life into empty premises littering Dingwall's High Street, attention is being focussed on the former Commercial Bar which sits next to local MSP Kate Forbes constituency office.
In the wake of our revelation last week that the bar pays nothing to Highland Council as it's in receipt of a 100 per cent unoccupied exemption, a prominent local trader is leading calls on Highland Council to “grasp the nettle” and deliver meaningful action.
Bill Powrie of Objet d’art believes the bar was allowed to “fall into complete disrepair with the tacit approval of Highland Council, by inexplicably affording them 100 per cent rates relief".
While dozens of businesses in the town fight to keep their heads above water and do their best for the town, he says the local authority has been found wanting because “Dingwall is very subservient to Inverness in the eyes of the council.”
He said: “This building has been a ruin for so long now that it has just become like wallpaper and not noticed by locals.Visitors on the other hand invariably comment on the eyesore and there is now a cohort of local retailers demanding that our elected representatives and the local authority grasp this nettle and facilitate a solution."
He said: “I am well aware that Dingwall is very subservient to Inverness in the eyes of the council but I am at a complete loss to understand why this serious situation has been allowed to carry on for so long, especially as the fabric of the building is literally disintegrating before our eyes. Action must be committed to, 20 years of talking about it has yielded precisely nothing.”
Councillor Graham Mackenzie said: “After seeing last week’s report in the Ross-shire Journal and having discussed the matter with Cllr Sean Kennedy, I approached the relevant officers at Highland Council to try and insert some clarity. The issue of the Commercial bar just does not look like it will resolve itself and though I sympathise after I heard the owner was unwell, we do need to see some action on the part of the council.
“It very much seems to me that enough time has passed and quite simply the building now looks like it is a danger in terms of health and safety and possibly even an environmental risk – particularly regarding the roof. The officials told me that they would look into it but I do know that anyone hoping for a compulsory purchase order does not realise that they are next to impossible to get in Scotland.
“Dingwall deserves the attention not just of elected members but also those within the council who facilitate our work and I think all the councillors would agree we shall continue to work and find a resolution.”
MSP Kate Forbes has raised the issue with the council. She said: "My constituency office is right beside this derelict property and over the past seven years the only signs of life next door have been the pigeons."
