A digital project to boost town centre trade in a north-east port has collapsed after business owners snubbed a local authority initiative.
Aberdeenshire Council is trying to regenerate Fraserburgh by refurbishing and renovating historic buildings in the high street, but was stymied by the lack of interest shown by shop owners to sign up to a deal-sharing mobile phone app.
The local authority had commissioned Perth firm Miconex Ltd to roll out the MiFraserburgh programme in the town last December.
The app, which was free to download, was aimed at highlighting local events and special offers in shops.
But difficulty in encouraging businesses to sign up to the scheme resulted in the project being scrapped.
The £15,000 set aside for MiFraserburgh will now be discussed by local councillors at next week’s meeting of the Banff and Buchan area committee.
Charles Buchan, who had hailed the initiative when it was first announced, last night described it as a “blow” for the town.
The SNP councillor said: “It’s very disappointing because digital media is the way forward. I only hope the money can now be used for an equally good use.
“Maybe, though, we should be considering raising this project again using some other system – businesses have to go digital.”
He added that he was pleased with the progress of other regeneration projects, including the introduction of an electricity line to the harbour and the re-purposing of the town’s former police station into a public-use building.
Mr Buchan said: “The electricity line in particular will be very important to fishermen who have to keep their boat engines running.
Stephen Archer, the local authority’s director of infrastructure services, added: “While MiFraserburgh provided more than the usual listings sites and has worked well elsewhere, it proved difficult to get Fraserburgh businesses to make use of it on a regular basis.
“This was affected, at least in part, by the difficulty Miconex had in recruiting and retaining a digital ambassador to work with local businesses. In November, it was therefore agreed to cancel the contract thereby releasing £15,000 for other projects.”