Councillor calls for smart screen saving
Tourist advice scheme branded waste of money
Smart screens installed in the centre of Dunblane were branded a waste of money by a councillor.
The devices provide information to visitors on travel, accommodation and eating out and were introduced by Stirling Council to help tourism.
One was put in place outside Dunblane train station last October at a cost of around £8000. The unit cost £6777 plus a £600 installation charge.
At the same time two screens costing a total of almost £51,000 were installed in Stirling. One in Mar Place, near the castle, cost £22,950 and a double–sided screen in Friars Street landed the council with a £27,910 bill. That cost includes a 10-year maintenance and repair service.
Another has been installed at the foot of the Spiky Bridge in Forthside.
Up to July 31 the screen in Dunblane had been clicked more than 14,000 times, accounting for less than 10 per cent of total clicks on all of the council’s screens. The average user clicks on the screen four times.
The two screens in Callander were clicked a combined 31,215 times.
In Stirling the screen on the bottom side of Friars Street was clicked 26,747 times, the top side 17,898, Mar Place 25,709, Forthside 15,443 and Spittal Street 14,824.
Dunblane and Bridge of Allan councillor Alastair Majury said he had been inundated with complaints from residents, saying that the figures show that Dunblane was one of the communities where the screens were least used.
He said a further £255 per year is spent on running the screens.
The screens offer tourist advice on local attractions, pubs and restaurants, shopping and accommodation and also offers businesses the chance to advertise.
Councillor Majury complained that only two Dunblane businesses are listed, meaning that people who use the machine could be directed to leave Dunblane.
He said: “A number of residents and businesses have spoken to me about this eyesore of a machine that is quite frankly a waste of money.
“I’m sure people wouldn’t find it difficult to imagine how nearly £9000 could have been spent within the community.
“I would like to see it removed and see an end to the £255 a year that continues to be spent on this.”
A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “Digital innovation plays a central role in developing Stirling’s already outstanding tourism and business offer and public feedback on these screens has generally been positive.
“They give local businesses a chance to advertise on a network of screens across not only the whole Stirling area but the rest of Scotland as well and we hope to encourage more businesses to get involved in the project.
“Stirling proudly has the highest number of clicks by destination across the network in Scotland and we will always listen to advice from residents and visitors to assess the operational model for the screens in specific areas.”