The Kintyre Forum

Now that spring is coming ( hopefully ) it is time for the Farmers Market to move back to Burnside Square which is its natural home. To make it more effective it could be turned into a 'Town Market' with traders having stalls . This would bring more people into the town and benefit the traders as well. At the moment where the market is cars drive up make their purchases and drive away again not going near the shops.
Burnside Square was never funded for or designed as a car park and should be used for the benefit of the whole community not just a few car owners. The pipe and brass bands could give concerts there. Other local entertainers could give outside performances. Food and drink stalls could be there. So many uses and at the moment so much space wasted.

New initiative for ExploreCampbeltown perhaps ?

Bonnie Lass wrote:New initiative for ExploreCampbeltown perhaps ?

I've been and received an invite to an Explore Kintyre event tomorrow. Is this the same?

mrn wrote:

Bonnie Lass wrote:New initiative for ExploreCampbeltown perhaps ?

I've been and received an invite to an Explore Kintyre event tomorrow. Is this the same?

No idea but if you go it is worth bringing up. I would like to have gone but I am away for a few days

Stebyr wrote:

mrn wrote:

Bonnie Lass wrote:New initiative for ExploreCampbeltown perhaps ?

I've been and received an invite to an Explore Kintyre event tomorrow. Is this the same?

No idea but if you go it is worth bringing up. I would like to have gone but I am away for a few days

Didn't make it but speaking to friends today it seems the Explore Kintyre is driven by the north of Kintyre and Tarbert etc and there is another group trying to push Campbeltown more. Not sure why the north of Kintyre lay claim to Kintyre as most of the time they prefer to be under Mid Argyll. Surely the whole selling point of Kintyre is the south? Sorry going off topic here!

maxmix wrote:

Kintyre Forum News wrote:Just think what could have been built on this in 5 years.

I know what you mean ! It's actually quite ironic, half of the retailers / shopkeepers that did not want to see this happen in the square, are now gone from the town centre, closed down or boarded up !

Strange world we live in ! Best of luck with it

maxmix

One reason I brought it up again was some shoppers who came in by bus and said when it was in Burnside Square they could go to the market and the shops but now it is only the market they have time for.The other reason was so many shoppers arrive by car do their shopping and drive home. I have spoken to a lot of them and they say if it was in Burnside Square they would be more inclined to visit the shops as well. The shops will benefit and the town will benefit I just hope people see sense as I would hate to see more shops closing.

My business is currently online based, if there was a market in Campbeltown I would be very interested in having a stall.
I attended the Explore Kintyre launch on Monday and thought it was very much focused on Campbeltown although they do seem determined to cover the whole of Kintyre.

Delphinus_Dreams wrote:I attended the Explore Kintyre launch on Monday and thought it was very much focused on Campbeltown although they do seem determined to cover the whole of Kintyre.

My friends who attended thought otherwise and believed whilst the original intention was to focus more on Campbeltown and the south of Kintyre the focus has moved to the north of Kintyre. The website certainly appears to be very much focused on Tarbert with few images from Campbeltown.

A Farmers Market in Burnside Square including crafts etc would be great for Campbeltown AND the whole of Kintyre. The majority of tourists visiting Campbeltown travel here from other parts of Kintyre, north and south, so what!

Kintyre stretches from beyond Tarbert in the north and beyond Campbeltown in the south!

Why do some people have to be so negative every time new initiatives are developed for the good of the whole area? The Farmers Market would be great for Kintyre, stall holders and visitors alike and could be promoted by both of the new marketing groups. Stop fighting each other and support one another.

I attended the ExploreKintyre meeting, it is for the whole of Kintyre, the website is new and needs more images/content, its not focused on North Kintyre only. Some businesses with a PA29 postcode are not eligible for ExploreCampbeltown which is a pity as they are closer to Campbeltown than Tarbert. I believe the PA28 postcode stops just north of Bellochantuy and goes as far as Carradale on the East Coast.

ExploreKintyre is for everyone, just get in touch and add your details. The more details available, the more images uploaded, the more areas of Kintyre will be covered.

I've copied the comments with regards the new Explore Campbeltown/Kintyre marketing groups/initiatives to a separate thread as think it is important discussion in the area and to ensure the correct message is sent out with regards each group.

Couldn't make the Explore Kintyre day on Monday but spoke so someone involved and said it was very well attended from all over Kintyre. Very positive too and lots of networking going on which is very important. This group is led by various people from Campbeltown to Tayinloan to Gigha to Tarbert etc

Explore Campbeltown are concentrating on PA28 businesses, Campbeltown and the South of Kintyre. A partnership led by Springbank Distillers, The Ardshiel Hotel and Machrihanish Holiday Park.

Was one group initially but there has been a split (well it wouldn't be Campbeltown if we never had 2 of everything!). Seems if anything if you are based in PA28 you are in a win/win situation and if not then you are still in a win situation with Explore Kintyre.

www.kintyreforum.com is fully supportive of both initiatives and wish both groups all the best. We knew about one website coming and initially were slightly alarmed to find out there are now two but the whole point is to promote the area so the more the better. The forum was started 8 years ago with the objective of promoting the area, events, discussion etc and I am sure we will continue to play a part in this. The forum has always been about its members and as said before if we can all help each other then more information will get out there. (on that note we really do need help on here to post stories, news, events etc etc)

Interestingly enough, although the number of postings on the forum have reduced the statistics in terms of visits continues to increase. We have over 400,000 page visits last month.

As social networking now plays a huge part in interacting with the public we also have a Facebook and Twitter page.

Our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/kintyreforum is reaching as high as 22,000 people on a single day with nearly 1,400 members(likes). Our twitter page can be found at http://www.facebook.com/kintyreforum

And please remember our LIVE webcam at http://www.visitkintyre.info/webcam/index.htm

Look I wasn't bitching I was just relaying what my friends thought about Explore Kintyre. They thought it seemed to have more focus on the north of Kintyre that is all.

The Campbeltown Courier is doing an article in this weeks paper so it will be interesting to see what they say