Money well spent?

Please chip in

There is an old saying about not looking gift horses in the mouth but the cynic in me did precisely that when I heard about the whopping £250,000 to be spent tarting up Gibraltar Street in Oban.

Gibraltar Street, for those who don’t know, is the wee pedestrianised bit between Tesco’s car park and the town centre, and is home to Bossards, the Highland Fold ice cream shop and cafe, a beauty parlour (I think), and some residential properties.

It is only a few yards long and boasts a couple of benches and, during good weather, tables and chairs from the cafes. There is also a bit of shrubbery and some flowers.

That aforementioned cynic in me wondered – out loud, worryingly – what could be done to improve the short thoroughfare, and where the £250,000 will be spent.

My initial and instinctive response to the news was that there must be far more deserving causes than this for such a large sum of public moolah.

Given that it comes from the Scottish Government’s Place Based Investment Fund, I suppose it must be spent on improving public spaces, but even then I think are more deserving projects.

However, I hope I am wrong and that changes in Gibraltar Street will mean me eating my words.

This Sunday sees the return of the excellent Oban Rotary Golf Am-Am, a major fundraiser run by those splendid club members who toil so diligently on behalf of good causes.

I’ve played in the event (though I’m certain my playing companions would rather I hadn’t), and can testify that it is a brilliant day for those who take part, but also for the Rotarians behind it.

It has in the past raised amazing sums of money for the club’s charities and I hope fervently that it does so again this weekend.

As ever, I would urge anyone who can to back the event financially and help the organisers generate as much cash as possible.