A Highland councillor has called for greater support to be offered to music venues amid the continuing battle to keep the Ironworks in Inverness open.
Shock plans were unveiled last month that would see the venue’s home torn down and replaced with a luxury 162-bed hotel.
Desperate revellers have since backed two campaigns aimed at keeping the Ironworks open and at the Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth yesterday, Highland councillor Angela Maclean backed a motion calling for extra support to be given to music venues.
The motion stated: “Conference calls for the promotion and advocacy of the creative industry with progressive policies that support musicians and the prolific music culture in the UK and for Liberal Democrat parliamentarians and campaigners to work with existing organisations such as UK Music, the Music Venue Trust and the Arts Council to protect music venues and the allocation of more government funding for grassroot music venues via the Arts Council.”
Councillor Maclean said: “Like so many people, I have had many a great night at the Ironworks enjoying some of the best of the Highland music scene.
“It would be so sad to see it go and I fear it would really stunt opportunities for local up and coming artists.
“There is an onus on politicians to make the case for the creative industry and that is exactly one of the issues Liberal Democrats have been debating this week at our UK conference.
“Our party has made a commitment to work with a range of organisations to protect music venues and that is exactly what I intend to do in this case.”