Travelodge sparks Fort uproar with barrier at the ‘Backlands’

THE TRAVELODGE hotel chain has triggered a row in Fort William after laying claim to the area of ground in the town known as the ‘Backlands’ and confirming it was responsible for the barrier which has now been installed to restrict access.

The move to seal off the piece of ground at the west end of the town’s High Street, which was tidied up and fenced by volunteers from the Fort William Town Team, has not gone down well with residents and businesses who used it as additional parking and for access to the rear of their properties.

Norrie MacLean, chairman of Friends of the Fort, says the company has handled the matter the wrong way. He added: ‘This was a piece of no-man’s-land for a very long time and very useful as additional parking. But now Travelodge says it belongs to it?

‘Travelodge makes a lot of money out of this town. I don’t know how the company thinks it can get away with this.

‘The only other route to access the rear of four local restaurants is MacRae’s Lane but this is currently blocked by large boulders. How would a fire truck get access to the back of these properties if a fire broke out?’

Asked to comment, Travelodge PR manager Tracey Grannum confirmed it was the hotel chain that had erected the barrier, adding: ‘It is our land and we have made the decision to fence it off and try to get the area under control. We needed to take a little more control of it and we will be doing something with it.’

But this week a frustrated and angry Fort William Town Team (FWTT) agreed to write to Travelodge’s head office, saying it had received no support from the hotel chain in recent years over the Backlands.

It called Travelodge’s decision now to suddenly shut the informal car park on supposedly health and safety reasons ‘scandalous’, given the state of the parcel of waste land to begin with.

It was FWTT member James Kennedy who sourced fencing materials and gravel and did the bulk of the work erecting a fence and gates, as well as installing rubbish warning signs and filling potholes.

‘It has been improved beyond recognition due to the work carried out by James and the FWTT,’ said a statement issued on behalf of the group this week.

Town Team chairwoman Moira Robinson told Monday night’s FWTT meeting: ‘We need to try to open a conversation about it and encourage a partnership with the community and get some kind of compromise. We want to sort it out that way.

‘We’ll get a letter off as quickly as we can but we’re not going to wait forever.’

The FWTT committee agreed to write to Travelodge bosses to press them on why they shut the area off to the public and what they plan to do with the land, saying they will give the hotel chain just a couple of weeks to respond before looking for alternative solutions. ‘We’d be willing to take it further depending on the response from Travelodge,’ Mrs Robinson added.

The fence erected by FWTT around the perimeter of the car park is estimated to have cost nearly £2,760 and other works included flattening the car parking area with in-fill and installing bins around the site.

Mr Kennedy, who did most of the work, even paying for some of the materials himself, is frustrated by the lack of cooperation from Travelodge.

‘Everyone I asked at Travelodge when I needed help with the bins said it wasn’t in their remit – it’s a phrase they keep using.’

FWTT member Sarah Kennedy added: ‘We’ve cleared it and improved it and we want some recognition and some compensation. Even if it was just allowed to be there for locals to use.’