Public to be asked for feedback on Pulteneytown conservation plans
Members of the public are to be asked to have their say on plans highlighting the importance of Pulteneytown's architectural heritage.
Feedback will be sought on two recently created draft documents, the Wick Pulteneytown Conservation Area Appraisal (CAA) and Conservation Area Management Plan (CAMP).
Councillor Nicola Sinclair, who chairs Highland Council's Caithness Committee, believes it will help to celebrate and promote Pulteneytown's history and safeguard it for generations to come.
Pulteneytown was laid out by civil engineer Thomas Telford (1757-1834) and named after Sir William Pulteney, a former governor of the British Fisheries Society. Wick and Pulteneytown were separate burghs before merging in 1902.
The draft documents will be available to view from Thursday through an online consultation portal and comments will be invited over a six-week period.
Outlining the background to the consultation, Highland Council said: "Pulteneytown remains a unique area of considerable architectural and historic interest. It is Thomas Telford’s only fully executed town plan for the British Fisheries Society, and its most successful investment; in the 19th century it was the largest herring fishing port in Europe.
"Today, the integrity of the original plan and built form of Pulteneytown remains largely in place. The design of the 19th-century inner and outer harbours is still intact.
"Within the area is a wealth of original Georgian buildings and a small number of later Victorian buildings, with little historic redevelopment on original lots. Buildings and structures demonstrate construction methods individual to Wick, with locally quarried Caithness stone worked in traditional ways to create distinctive construction details.
"The distinctive housing and industrial areas sit comfortably beside each other, displaying their past and present individual uses."
Councillor Sinclair said: “What shines through from these papers is how very special and unique Pulteneytown is, not just in a Highland context but nationally.
"I feel we need to do more to celebrate and promote that history, and crucially these plans help us protect it for future generations.
"I would encourage members of the public to view and comment upon these informative papers via the consultation portal.”
Ian Leith, chairman of the Wick Society, the voluntary group that runs Wick Heritage Museum in the town's Bank Row, said: “The CAA and CAMP include a fresh assessment of the Pulteneytown conservation area boundary to ensure it accurately reflects what is important in terms of our heritage. It also considers what opportunities and challenges currently face the conservation area, and the Wick Society would welcome any opportunity to help shape the future of our area.”
The draft documents will be available to view online between January 28 and March 11.