Developing Inverness and the A96 Corridor

At the Planning Environment and Development meeting on 18th March Councillors will be updated on progress with the current major planning applications and masterplanning work underway throughout the A96 Corridor between Inverness and Nairn.  Major schemes are being proposed at East Inverness, at Nairn and at Tornagrain in the centre of the corridor. 

The Council approved supplementary planning guidance for the area in 2007, identifying the major development areas which will accommodate housing and economic development needs over the next 30 years.  The A96 Corridor has also been identified in the final draft of the National Planning Framework 2 as the main focus for growth in the Inner Moray Firth. 
 
The report to committee stresses that the pro-active work that is being undertaken by developers and landowners is to be welcomed, as they follow the requirements of the A96 Corridor Framework.  A number of pieces of work remain to be completed by the Council and partners before these major planning applications can be determined to ensure that the growth for the city meets the requirements of the next 30 years. These include:  

• Discussion with Scottish Government on the action programme which will accompany the finalised National Planning Framework, particularly as it relates to the A96 Corridor “area for co-ordinated action”;

• Discussion with Transport Scotland on the likely delivery of the infrastructure priorities set out in the Strategic Transport Projects Review and the development of an associated action plan and developer contributions schedule/plan;

• The preparation of an updated Inverness City Vision, Local Housing Strategy and Local Transport Strategy (to be undertaken in tandem with the Local Development Plan process) to ensure that the city growth proposals can be set in an updated context and that existing growth areas can be consolidated and infrastructure “pinch points” remedied;

• Further discussion with local communities and other interest groups as part of the Local Development Plan preparation; and

• Further discussions with all of the development interests involved as part of an A96 Corridor Developers Forum.

Councillor Ian Ross, Chairman of the Planning Environment and Development Committee, said: “The Council is committed to progressing the proposals as set out in the A96 Corridor Framework through the formal Local Development Plan process.  The amount of development interest around Inverness and Nairn is a strong vote of confidence in the Highlands as a place to live and work, and we want to continue working with communities and the developers involved to make sure we build communities that future generations will be proud of.  We want to encourage people to work with us to make sure that this happens.”

The ongoing work, as set out in the Committee report to members, will not affect consideration of those schemes benefiting from existing adopted Local Plan allocations, or the proposed UHI campus site at Beechwood, which specifically promoted as a priority development area at the time the A96 Corridor Framework was approved by Council.