Planning Chairman’s Upbeat Report on Highland Housing

The chairman of The Highland Council’s Planning Development Europe and Tourism Committee, Councillor Sandy Park has revealed that 11,500 houses can be delivered in the Highlands over the next five years on sites which are free from constraints.

Councillor Park said an annual audit of housing availability – resulting from talks between planning officials and more than 200 landowners and other public agencies – had confirmed that the recent growth in the area could be maintained.

Councillor Park also reported that 670 houses were built throughout the area during the first six months of this year, continuing the increasing trend seen over the last five years. 

He said: “The audit is very encouraging indeed but we are not being complacent about the delivery of land for housing. Whilst it is critical that we have identified areas of land which can be developed quickly, it is just as important to target our attention to those sites which have problems, and to work with developers, landowners and the local community to remove the constraints or identify alternative, better sites, through the local planning process.”

He said a number of physical constraints, such as the absence of water and drainage services,  was identified and the removal of these, or the identification of alternative sites, would be the subject of work in the preparation of Local Plans throughout the Highland area.