Shop front improvement scheme: "Why have you had to go to phase two? Because phase one was knackered..."

At Monday’s tourism meeting in the courthouse the ill-fated shop-improvement scheme administered by Highland Council with Sainsbury’s cash was again blasted. Gurnites will remember that it received another broadside in the Inverness Courier earlier last month. Sheena Baker slated the application form outling the worst problem she said:

“...including,  that once you applied you had to prove that you had the approval of the property or the landlord. Now that is very, very difficult. There are shops in this town, rightly or wrongly, whether we agree with it or not. There are shops were the landlords are not giving them the proper legal documents so you couldn’t pass it over.”

Ward manager Liz Cowie said: “We are planning to look at that again, so...”

Shena came back: “So there’s sixty thousand pounds sitting there not being applied for!”

Liz continued: “That’s been explained Sheena, that was a phase 1 and Louise worked with me and that’s been...”

“I understand that Liz,” there was a further interruption from Sheena. 

Liz interrupted the interruption: “It’s being reviewed, if you let me finish, it’s being reviewed , it’s back in April, it’s going to Sheila MacAndy in the finance department to look at the legal side of it and we’ve just to wait to get the information back. I’ll give you a shout if you’d like to come in and have a look at the information with me because that will help me have a look at getting this phase 2 working again.”

Sheena retorted: “Why have you had to go to phase two? Because phase one was knackered because the application form was too difficult.”