what do you think of dumfries town centre? – Dumfries and Galloway Council

Question: what do you think of dumfries town centre?

Asked by lauren to Alastair on 21 Sep 2010 in Categories: Youth issues.

Alastair Witts answered on 21 Sep 2010:

It could be better. The main problem of course is the empty shops, but that’s not unique to Dumfries because other towns have the same problem. People themselves have chosen to do their ‘big shop’ out of town and so the wee shops often can’t make a profit any more. It’s a problem that won’t be solved overnight because it’s a problem that’s been getting worse for a long time. I’ve got one or two ideas to improve things if you’re interested.

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Jane commented on 21 Sep 2010:

The Queen of the South has a beautiful central structure with some wonderful buildings. Plannning in the past allowed some perfectly appalling brutalist development, and we are still far too ready to accept mediocrity. There are not enough people with disposable income living in the centre of the town. There should be limited development of student accommodation in the centre. Both would bring some life after 5 and before 2!
Dumfries suffers from being just too big for everyone to know each other (and exercise civic discipline, dare i say Stewartry style) and just too small to attract big investment. But there are some great things going on in its midst – arts, film, talks, music, parades, bike races, ballet, Doors open Days, and I repeat, it is a gem.

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Elaine commented on 22 Sep 2010:

Out of town developments have certainly taken their toll of Scottish town centres – Dumfries is not the only town to suffer from this. However Dumfries does have the advantage of having some lovely buildings and we should make more of the natural asset of the river side. I did object to the ‘clone town’ title as we have many good small family businesses in the streets around the high street.

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