Superstore rejected on Ness-side, Inverness

Members of The Highland Council’s City of Inverness Planning Applications Committee today (13 March) unanimously refused an application for a district shopping centre, including a Tesco superstore, unit shops, petrol filling station and sites for hotel and doctors’ surgery on land at Ness-side, Dores Road, Inverness.

The application was for the development of a district centre comprising a 4,447sqm superstore, additional commercial units, land for hotel and medical centre, car parking and landscaping on land to the west of Dores Road at the western most end of the Inverness Trunk Road Link formerly known as the Inverness Southern Distributor Road.

Members heard that 73 letters of representation and a petition, containing 1054 signatures, against the proposal had been received by the Council and that Holm Community Council had expressed serious concerns regarding the proposal. They also heard that the Council’s TEC Services were of the view that the proposal was premature pending completion of the final phase of the Trunk Road Link developments.

The application was heard at the Town House in Inverness under the Council’s hearing procedures. Planning permission was refused in line with the following reasons

• The proposal was contrary to City of Inverness Policy 7 of the Inverness Local Plan in respect of retailing; as the proposed foodstore is of the scale that is not commensurate with the scale and function of the Ness District and to an extent where it would diminish the prospect of district scale retailing in the other district centres identified in the Local Plan.

• The proposal was contrary to Policy G2 of the Highland Structure Plan in respect of Design; as without an indication of parking associated with the hotel and surgery uses, the layout and siting of these buildings may have affected the overall integrity of the development.

The applicant will now be entitled to appeal to the  Scottish Executive Inquiry Reporter’s Unit.