Plans at 'very early stage' for demolition and replacement of landmark Highland multi-storey car park
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The ageing Rose Street multi-storey car park could be demolished and replaced, it has emerged.
HiTrans, the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership, says it is about to launch a feasibility study into the replacement of the ageing Inverness facility with a new car park.
The study is part of wider ongoing ambitions to redevelop the area around the Highland capital's bus and railway stations in a bid to transform them into a single transport hub.
It comes as there are rumours circulating about the future of Rose Street hall.
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Invitation to pay' car park schemes agreed for Wester Ross
HiTrans’ partnership manager Frank Roach explained that the car park study is at a very early stage, but that they’d be looking at building some form of replacement. It is understood this could likely be very close to the existing building.
Frank Roach, partnership manager at HiTrans, said: “We’re about to kick off some feasibility work on the Rose Street multi-storey car park and looking at the potential of moving [the parking location] slightly.
“We’re looking at options for rebuilding it in a slightly different position to free up the whole access to the railway and bus station area.
“One of the stumbling blocks [to the wider transport hub masterplan] is the position of the car park. We will be going out to tender soon to get some consultations in in order to find out how big [a replacement] needs to be, it’s orientation etc.”
He added that replacing the ageing eyesore with a new facility is “one of the early things that needs to be done for better access” into the city, and that a new car park and layout would be able to better reflect the larger sizes of modern cars.
Highland Council, which owns and runs the car park, has confirmed that a replacement for the existing multi-storey is being explored, but that it is still in the “very early” stages. However, although early in the process, it was working forward on the assumption that the site will need to be replaced in the future owing to its age – with the existing bays, support pillars and layout being created when cars were smaller. The site’s age has also led to a string of ongoing maintenance issues in recent years, with regular breakdowns of lifts, entry/exit barriers and the like all posing headaches for motorists.
A council spokesperson said: “The Highland Council is a committed partner in the transport hub project and will be engaged in the development of any proposals relating to this major infrastructure project in the city centre.
“We are at a very early stage in determining requirements but we are currently engaged on the assumption that at some point in the future we will be replacing the existing multi-storey car park. Please note this is at a very early stage and details are yet to be agreed and will require input and full scrutiny by councillors.”
News that the multi-storey might be replaced with a new car park as part of the masterplan for a city centre transport hub has been welcomed by some business figures.
David Richardson, development manager for the Highlands and Islands at the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Having a car park designed for modern cars, easy to access and to get away, reasonably priced and not designed like a monstrous eyesore has to be good. The principle sounds spot on.”
He added that work on a fully integrated modern transport hub that would serve not just Inverness, but the wider Highlands, and “really works, makes total sense” and is “very exciting”.
But he also stressed the importance of making sure a replacement car park had to be just right and that it be built swiftly once work commenced, for fear disruption to city centre parking could cause major headaches for local businesses. He cited examples like the damage done to businesses when Edinburgh’s tram construction project was repeatedly delayed, and also the hit businesses took in Ullapool when the work to widen the seafront road was carried out.
Meanwhile, HiTrans has taken over the lease for the long-vacant former car rental site at Primrose Cottage in Strothers Lane/Railway Terrace. The site sits adjacent to the multi-storey as well as the railway station. The move is part of the wider transport hub project, and it has taken on the site to avoid any tenancy vacation issues arising when construction on the masterplan is eventually ready to begin.
