Proposals for a new lights project in Dundee have split opinion among locals with some praising the idea and others calling it a “waste of money”.
Dundee City Council chiefs hope the £300,000 project will rejuvenate the city centre.
City Nights and City Lights would feature new lights and banners on several streets, along with initiatives to get people visiting the area on Thursday evenings.
Exchange Street and High Street are among those included in the proposals, which could be boosted with other incentives like parking and public transport offers.
More detail is expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks, should councillors give the project their backing at the city development committee on Monday.
The proposals have attracted hundreds of comments online, dividing opinion among city residents.
Some have praised the project, with Mike McCabe saying on Facebook: “Brilliant, beautiful idea.”
Lesley McArtney said it is “a good start” to improving the city centre’s image.
However, the proposals attracted backlash and left many asking why money is being spent this away, amid the cost of living crisis and recently-agreed council tax rise.
Locals say the lights will highlight empty shops in the city centre and the priority should be filling them.
The say the lights will look like “the council was too lazy to take the Christmas lights down”.
Dundee City lights ‘waste of money’
Stephanie Burns said on Facebook: “People can’t afford to live, put our heating on, put food on the table, but yet it’s deemed okay for you to hike up our council tax and then waste it on electricity by putting fancy lights high in the air that will no doubt be on every night of the year.”
Some say the money, coming from sources including the Scottish Government’s City Centre Recovery Fund, could be better spent elsewhere.
Suggestions included more street cleaning and lowering rents and rates to bring people back to the city centre.
Paul Davidson said: “Pretty sure £300,000 can be better spent elsewhere.
“Hiking up taxes, who is going to be paying the light bill? Dundee council always spending money on pointless things.”
Sandra Brown said: “That’s really what Dundee doesn’t need, money should be spent on the people and communities.
“Dundee could be such a great city if money was spent on the right things.”
Conversation