Highland Latest Town Centre Health Check Published

20th February 2023

Read ow Highland owns are doing and see several graphs covering a range of topics. It is very clear that on a range of measures Wick has suffered more than most other towns in all categories between 2018 and 2022.

The link to the report at the bottom of this page. It is shocking.

The Highland Council has today (Monday 20 February) published updated information on the strength, vitality and performance of town centres across Highland. Known as Town Centre Health Checks, they help keep track of the uses, activities and other aspects that make up the town centres - and of how that changes over time. This information can help the Council and others come up with strategies for improvements and inform policies that affect the town centres.

Chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Councillor Ken Gowans welcomes the publication of the health checks. He said: "Checking the strength and vitality of our town centres is essential to enable better decision and policy making.

"By presenting detailed information and analysis of the data collected alongside a commentary on each location allows a range of users to access information relevant to them.

"Highland Council was the first Local Authority in Scotland to present its Town Centre Health Check results using the Story Map format so I am pleased to see this very accessible way to drill down to get key information continue."

A comprehensive exercise was carried out in Summer 2022 for fifteen town centres identified in the Council's Local Development Plans. In addition to Inverness City Centre (split into 5 sectors) and retail parks, the towns included are Alness, Beauly, Brora, Dingwall, Dornoch, Fort William, Golspie, Invergordon, Nairn, Portree, Tain, Thurso, Ullapool and Wick. (The Cairngorm National Park Authority area is not included.)

A range of methods was used to collect the data. The approach included surveying premises in order to categorise them by current use and note any that were vacant. This enables analysis of long term trends and identifying which services are available in which locations. Surveyor assessment of what facilities exist and of their condition, alongside interviews with users of the town centre, provide assessment of quantity and quality for each location. Communities preparing their own Local Place Plans may find this information particularly useful.

To make the wealth of information collected easier to access, StoryMaps have been created to better explain the circumstances for each town centre and to allow easy comparison between locations. Presentation in this form includes graphs, text and maps with detail down to assessments and photographs of individual shop units on the day of survey. Additional information was collected on the provision and condition of a wide range of facilities including parking, public transport, active travel, leisure facilities and the public realm (outdoor areas that are accessible to the public).

The full report in Story Map form can be accessed online, here:
Town Centre Health Checks 2022
Town Centre Health Checks 2022