The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Row breaks out over future operation of popular tourist attraction in Stirling
LANDMARK: The National Wallace Monument is soon to be run by council
A monumental row has broken out over the future operation of the National Wallace Monument, after it was revealed yesterday the historic attraction will be taken under local authority control for the first time in 25 years.
The 220ft-tall Victorian Gothic tower opened on September 11 1869 as a tribute to Scotland’s 13th Century freedom fighter Sir William Wallace.
One of Scotland’s most popular landmarks, since 1995 it has been operated on a lease basis by independent charitable company Stirling District Tourism (SDT).
Stirling Council said a review of its contractual arrangements with external organisations had concluded the 25-year lease, signed in November 1995, no longer represented best value for the local authority or taxpayers.
From November, the attraction will return to full council ownership and operation, in a move they say will “protect its future”.
However, SDT said it was responsible for the attraction becoming recognised as “a landmark of national and international significance” and the decision was “not in the best interests of the monument and... detrimental to its future as one of Stirling’s most important heritage properties”.
The charity, which employs up to 34 people in peak season, said there would be “complications” as it owns assets including the visitor centre, souvenir shop and coffee shop.
Stirling Council yesterday announced “bold new plans” to reposition the 150-year-old attraction as “the cornerstone of Stirling’s tourism offer”.
Council leader Scott Farmer said: “The National Wallace Monument is a treasured local asset for the people of Stirling and it rightly holds a place as one of the most instantly recognisable attractions in the country, if not the world.
“It is for this very reason that we have decided to protect its future by bringing it back in-house and placing it at the very centre of our strategy for tourism and culture across Stirling.
“The monument brings a sense of pride to the whole area and it belongs to the people of Stirling, so it’s only right that the business plan and operating model behind it offers them the best value it possibly can.”
The council said negotiations had failed to yield either a lease deal that “offered best value”, or a suitable agreement for a new partnership.
SDT, which has reinvested hundreds of thousands of pounds of profits into the attraction, said its trustees had been engaged in negotiations for more than four years in an effort to renew the lease and the decision was “a major setback for the organisation”.
SDT chairperson Zillah Jamieson said: “This decision has been taken by Stirling Council for reasons which we believe are not in the best interests of the monument and which will be detrimental to its future as one of Stirling’s most important heritage properties.”