Inverness East Sports centre motion agreed

The Highland Council’s City of Inverness Area Committee agreed the following motion today (18 November 2021):

This committee recognises the unprecedented scale of housing developments in the east of Inverness and lack of amenities to serve a growing population. In the next 5 years over 5,000 new homes are planned, and two new primary schools and one secondary school are already planned.  It has already been acknowledged by this committee and the public, there is a significant absence of indoor public sports facilities in the east of Inverness, to satisfy the growing demand from people of all ages and abilities.

This committee recognises the need to establish major new sports facilities in the east of Inverness as a key element of any strategic plan for the city and recognises the very real benefits this would bring to the city in terms of building communities by promoting physical health, mental health and general wellbeing for all.

This committee agrees to take forward the ambition to construct major new sports facilities on the east of Inverness by:

• setting up a cross party “Inverness East Sports Facility Working Group” with support from officers from the council and our High Life Highland partners. 
• holding the first meeting of the group before the end of 2021 and agree that the working group will set its own Terms of Reference to reflect the powers delegated to ICAC.
• liaising with stakeholders and partners to analyse work already underway and to identify potential locations for the new sports facilities.
• identifying the range of facilities to be delivered and progressing potential funding opportunities, including Sports Scotland.
• ensuring the plans are embedded in the LDP and City Strategy and make representations to the Council requesting that they are added to the Highland Council Capital Plan.
• the working group reporting back to the ICAC on a regular basis to provide progress reports.

The motion was signed by Cllrs Ken Gowans, Glynis Sinclair and Ian Brown and supported by Cllrs Carolyn Caddick and Duncan MacPherson.