Invergordon residents’ fight against controversial new housing in the Easter Ross town sparks crunch meeting
Campaigners fighting against housing development on the "last remaining green space in Invergordon" have called an emergency meeting.
Save Our Green Space (Sogs) has been fighting Capstone Connect and Highland Council’s planned housing development on open parkland to the east of House of Rosskeen - a beauty spot locally known as Major's Wood.
The 66 homes were given the green light by Highland Council last month, despite vocal opposition from residents and environmentalists alike.
Critics said they could not understand why housing was being planned for land that was no longer zoned for residential development in the local development plan.
And they were also deeply critical of the decision to build on popular open green space when there are numerous brownfield sites in the town that are not only available, but also zoned for development.
Despite that the council pressed ahead and voted in favour of the planned housing.
And construction crews swiftly moved in just days after the decision - something developers claim not only occurred before statutory notices were displayed at the site but also that the crews were using private access points that were contrary to the agreed construction traffic management plan.
They have now called a crunch meeting for Tuesday evening, as they seek to plan their next steps and also try to raise the money to fight a legal campaign they hope to use to halt the scheme.
Legal action to halt the planned estate has been mooted.
"Save Major's Wood, it's not too late," said a spokesperson for Sogs.
"The ancient wood and open parkland is under threat of being lost for good. We need your help to stop the construction of 66 new houses being built on that last remaining green space in Invergordon.
"Please, please help us protect this last precious wild space for future generations to enjoy!
"To fight this on your behalf we need to raise £35,000 to pay for legal and professional fees.
"Please donate as every penny counts, thank you.
"And please sign our petition."
The public meeting planned by the group will be held at Invergordon Rugby Club on Tuesday, April 15 7pm.
The petition can be found at www.change.org/p/save-our-precious-green-space-from-destructive-development. And their JustGiving page, which has so far raised almost £2500 towards their £35,000 goal, can be viewed at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/SaveOurGreenSpace.
