The northern end of Oban’s George Street could be so much more attractive to tourists and shoppers if it were pedestrianised.
At present, it is an unattractive canyon, the main purpose of which is to serve the motorist.
Not only is there the interminable flow of traffic, cars and vans line the street, legally on the east side, illegally on the west.
This means that more than 80 per cent of the canyon width is devoted to motor vehicles. Pedestrians who venture into George Street scuttle up one side on a narrow pavement and very few dare to attempt crossing the road for fear of getting run over.
Nobody could call this attractive and the consequence is that footfall is commensurately small.
George Street traders will inevitably argue that customers need to park within a stone’s throw of their doors, even though the chance of finding a space is small to vanishing. But, other towns have taken the plunge, they have pedestrianised and they are thriving – business is booming.
Excluding traffic means offering an attractive, pedestrian-safe environment. Add daytime street markets and entertainment, promote ‘café culture’, and people (i.e. customers) love it. The corollary is that shop turnover takes a dramatic upturn. And, there are ways of catering for both the deliveries of goods and disabled access.
So, no worries on these scores.
Let’s ensure Oban’s future by enhancing its attractiveness – pedestrianise George Street North!
Ian Reid, Oban.
I spent two and a half years in Cyprus with the RAF during the early 1960s and whenever I could, I headed north to the Troodos mountains which lay just a half hour away.
The maze of ‘B’ roads that threaded their way up the slopes through the mature pine forests made it delightfully easy to explore the many small villages that studded the hill-sides.
The contrast between Troodos and our Argyll forests was truly astounding.
Here, our slopes are covered with commercial plantations so dense, dark and impenetrable that it is virtually impossible for any undergrowth or wildlife to survive in them. They are hemmed in on all sides by impenetrable deer fences. All gates are padlocked to wheeled traffic and anyone arriving by car to take a walk along a forest road is charged a parking fee. Somewhere in the mists of time it has been forgotten that we taxpayers actually paid for all this real estate!
I make these points at a time when there appears to be a resurgence of interest in scheduling still more National Parkland in Scotland to ‘preserve the beauty of our countryside.’
Before we cast the bureaucratic net even wider across areas that have no pressing need to be artificially identified as ‘beautiful’ might I suggest an alternative?
Namely to recover at least one large coniferous plantation in an area of outstanding natural beauty and restore it back to its former wild state. Not only do our slopes need to breathe and re-grow the native trees and the vast population of creatures they once supported – we also need to get them back in order to reduce pressure on popular spots that are getting over-stressed and worn away by excessive foot-traffic.
It would be a far greater achievement to recover and restore something that has been lost for a century, than to lay yet more restrictions on the land in a manner more likely to reflect the values of urban-based planners than of the people who are obliged to live under them.
Andrew McIntyre, by email.
I read the article on Hill to Grill in the Lochaber Times with interest
.
After reading it I couldn’t help but think that the gamekeepers work is underplayed and the competitive greed of making a buck out of the wildlife is over emphasised.
During the war all venison was exported to France and Germany to overcome this speculative greed and stabilise the overall price of venison for all landowners concerned not just those connected to tourist restaurants.
Danny Aitken, former red deer commission gillie, by email.
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