Will Dingwall development flow from business park flood scheme agreement?
DINGWALL will see two new community projects move forward as councillors agree to set aside new funding.
The council has confirmed £150,000 will go towards flood mitigation in Dingwall Business Park.
Another site has been identified for a community development project to support local services, including a new primary school to replace St Clement’s.
The funding will come from the council’s £2.1 billion Highland investment plan, its 20-year plan for new developments.
The flooding mitigation project will also be supported by HIE.
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The flooding issues with Dingwall’s Business Park have long been known.
Issues with the bund currently next to the River Peffery were raised by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) in a planning objection back in 2022.
They argued the current flooding protections were not fit for purpose.
Since then, design work has progressed on a new ‘re-meandering’ project to amend the flow of the river, taking the pressure off the current bund.
A council report on the project said: “This is a great opportunity for the council to partner in a project which is… reducing flood risk within Dingwall and potentially unlocking development opportunities within the business park.”
Councillor Margaret Paterson said she was “so delighted” at the funding confirmation.
She hopes SEPA’s blocking of planning development in the business park should now hopefully be lifted.
Glynis Campbell-Sinclair said: “This will help to reduce the overall flood risk within Dingwall.”
Another council project are point of delivery services or PODs which have taken another step forward in Dingwall.
PODs are community-led buildings that will house a variety of services locals have asked for in one location, utilising Highland investment plan funds.
Council planners have raised the possibility of combining the new POD project with a replacement school for the pupils of St Clement’s Primary.
Councillor Margaret Paterson remarked she “can’t remember the last time I was as excited as this” to see progress on the new school.
Leader of the oppositon Alasdair Christie said action on a new St Clement’s in Dingwall should’ve happened earlier after previous consultations concluded.
He said: “If it had gone ahead in 2022 it would have been finished by now.”
Councillor Sarah Aktin responded and said the use of school pupils of St Clement’s being used as political footballs was “distasteful.”
Councillor Michael Cameron said: “We really are moving forward.
“We have what people have been asking for… bringing a level of prosperity to the Highlands we were previously only dreaming about.”
Councillor Ruraidh Stewart said: “Highland council has the worst school estate in the whole of Scotland.
“Our schools are the very foundation of our communities and it is crumbling before this very council.”
“This is a source of shame… it should have been done years ago.”
A report recommending the location of the school and an update on the Dingwall POD will return to the council next year.
