Council aim to make Highland capital an 'attractive, greener' place where residents and tourists alike can 'comfortably live, work and visit' revealed There is a need to diversify the offer away from retail and introduce a more diverse range of uses There is insufficient civic and greenspace The River Ness is a key asset and its potential should be maximised n The growing tourism economy could support more cultural events Increasing residential accommodation in the city centre would bring vitality
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HIGHLAND Council has launched a major strategy for the capital city less than a month after a team led by MP Drew Hendry issued a major call through the Inverness 2035 – One City, One Vision proposals for just that.
The 110-page draft plan is to be considered at the local area committee next week alongside a market brand position report on the city called Rethinking Inverness, by Kevin Murray Associates.
It is unclear how the local authority intends to pay for any of its proposals.
The council strategy was written by four senior officials: Craig Baxter (planner), Scott Dalgarno (development plans manager); Allan Maguire (head of development and regeneration) and David Haas (Inverness city area manager).
According to them: “The vision for Inverness city centre is an attractive, greener, high-footfall place that people can comfortably live, work and visit for a wide range of services, facilities, and to spend their leisure time.
“The vision is based on an analysis of the community, heritage, culture and existing uses within Inverness city centre and seeks to showcase a number of projects that are either ‘shovel ready’ or already on site and how these, coupled with opportunities identified through the analysis can be transformational to Inverness city centre.”
They added: “The Highland Council will make a just transition towards becoming a zero carbon region which means supporting a green and circular economy now and for future generations.
“These overarching aims underpin this project, which seeks to set out how Inverness city centre can continue to be the prime destination for people and businesses to invest their time and money.”
According to the authors of the report, conclusions derived from detailed analysis of the city centre show that in line with other towns and cities, Inverness has experienced “60 years of erosion”.
It shows that once all retail, banking, civic, offices, healthcare, education and sports were in the city centre but many have fled for the outskirts, including cinemas and living space.
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The conclusions taken from that are as follows:
The strategy includes a series of What If? proposals suggesting better uses of what is present at the moment including encouraging more residential units, providing more venues for music and comedy to boost the evening economy, making Inverness more vibrant.
There is a section about Recovery Projects and opportunities that are currently being worked on – like Inverness Castle, the Victorian Market revamp and a range of hotel developments – plus opportunities that are there yet need to be taken forward such as using Baron Taylor’s Street and Bank Lane as a key connection to the river by turning it into something akin to Ashton Lane in Glasgow with bars, restaurants and cafés.
Another would be to turn Market Brae steps into a colourful area with retail, food and drink including an external terrace in the upper levels and adding public art.
And in one of the most ambitious proposals, the authors suggest turning Farraline Park bus station into a new greenspace.
Attention is given to accessibility and connectivity with the priority of “creating a safer walking and cycling environment for all, in tandem with an improved public transport network”.
The proposals suggest linking the city with residential areas near and far and making active travel a much more realistic option. Nine routes in all aim to connect mostly the areas to the east, west and south of the city with the centre through designated active travel routes, among them is a connection from the city centre to Merkinch, Raigmore, Inverness Campus and the ‘Inverness east development area’.
It also looks to prioritise people over cars and attempts to tackle hugely divisive areas like cycle routes in Castle Street and Academy Street, while connecting key cultural institutions.
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