Plook next year?

Calton is not at all surprised that Fort William was a runner-up in this year's Carbuncle award. Its once thriving High Street is now a dismal desert full of empty shops. The situation will only become worse when the new Tesco opens on the Mallaig road, as shoppers to the north and west of the town will no longer drive the extra miles into town to visit Morrisons, which is then only an underpass away from the High Street. Local gossip has it that there are plans to open the High Street to traffic again - a good idea in Calton's opinion. There's no point in having a pedestrianised street when there are no shoppers. Having cars moving along it may just bring some life back into it, especially if they also allow free, short-stay parking. Like it or not, the car is here to stay and charging people through the nose to park does not encourage them to patronise their local town centre. Hopefully the threat of actually being presented with the Plook on a Plinth next year will concentrate the minds of those responsible for Fort William town centre planning, because up until now it has been a disaster. Time for some blue-sky thinking to match the recent weather in sunny Lochaber!