Key Council publications help shape future of the Highlands
The latest outlook for future development and housing delivery across the Highlands has been announced by the Highland Council today (25 March 2021) together with measures to support the delivery of schools and other infrastructure.
The publication of a package of related documents – the ‘Housing Land Audit’, the ‘School Roll Forecasts’ and the ‘Delivery Programmes’– aims to provide updated forecasts for housing delivery and clearer information on the requirements for development and infrastructure projects.
All 3 documents are available on the council’s website at the following links:
www.highland.gov.uk/housinglandaudit
www.highland.gov.uk/deliveryprogramme
www.highland.gov.uk/schoolroll
These annual publications are aligned to provide accurate monitoring of infrastructure and development and allow the Council to prioritise capital investment decisions.
The Housing Land Audit 2020 is an assessment of the housing land supply available in the Highland Council area as at 1 June 2020. The audit sets out a programme of expected housing delivery over the initial 5 year period and the following 10 years and includes expectations for the delivery of new homes up to 2034. The Council has updated the “Storymap” which presents this information along with the interactive online tool to make it easier to view the information set out in the Housing Land Audit
https://highland.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=cbdc670d1780439daa46a414645c2a52
The School Roll Forecasts summarise the projected pupil rolls for each of the primary and secondary schools across Highland over the next 15 years. The forecasts, which are updated annually, incorporate a wide range of factors including the programmed rate of housing development (from the Housing Land Audit), recent capital investment, demographic trends and school placing requests.
The Delivery Programmes are aimed at monitoring, implementing and sharing details of the actions needed to support forecasted housing growth across Highland. The Delivery Programmes will be used to coordinate investment in development and infrastructure and will be revised and amended as infrastructure is delivered, opportunities for new development are presented and as pressures change over time.
The Council’s Executive Chief Officer for Infrastructure and Environment, Malcolm Macleod, said: “The alignment of these documents provide the Council with detailed and up to date information on where development will happen and what infrastructure is needed. It also helps to better prioritise Council resources and make more informed investment decisions.”