Placemaking back on OIC agenda

Controversial ‘placemaking’ proposals for Kirkwall’s Broad Street are back on the Orkney Islands Council agenda next week.

On Tuesday, the council’s development and infrastructure committee will decide whether to progress the first phase of improvements at a cost of £1.083 million.

The placemaking scheme, which has been on the OIC agenda since 2012, has attracted criticism, with a lack of support from the public highlighted in the council chamber on a number of occasions.

Initially considered as part of a wider council placemaking scheme for the town centre, the Broad Street improvement project saw a drop-in session for members of the public in April, followed by meetings between the design team employed by the council, and a wide number of local groups, organisations and businesses.

In June, the designers held a public exhibition to showcase a number of options and people had a further opportunity to provide feedback.

According to the report before elected members next week, the majority of people who took part in the consultation with the design team were in favour of making improvements to Broad Street.