Have your say on the future development of the Inner Moray Firth

Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan

Residents in the Inner Moray Firth area are reminded that there is just under four  weeks left to let The Highland Council’s Planning and Development Service know how they  would like to see their community develop over the next 20 years.

The document out for consultation is called the Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan Main Issues Report and it sets out a number of initial options for where development should and should not occur within the Inner Moray Firth area which is from Fort Augustus in the South to Tain in the North and Auldearn in the East and to Garve in the West including the main settlements of Inverness, Nairn and Dingwall. The Main Issues Report looks at how a number of other issues affecting the area can be addressed.

Councillor Thomas Prag, Chair of Planning, Environment and Development Committee, said: “People often tell us that they feel powerless in the planning process. Wwell here is a real opportunity for them to have a say in how their community might develop in the next 20 years. So much is still in the melting pot at this stage and if folk don’t take the chance to chip in on the consultation process now they may not get the chance again for some time. It’s where we live and work and play – it’s up to us to help shape it for the future.”

The Main Issues Report is available to read at online at http://www.highland.gov.uk/.  It is also available at every public library, Council Service Points and area Planning & Building Standards office within the Inner Moray Firth area and at Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness.

The public is also able to become involved in the discussion on Twitter. The  username is @highlanddevplan.

Since the launch of the consultation on 5 April,  there have been 24 public exhibitions and workshops across the plan area and there are 11 more to come before the close of the consultation at 5pm on 6 July 2012. Members of the public can find out more and get involved in shaping thier community by coming along to one of the remaining public exhibitions any time between 2.00pm and 6.30pm.  Separate round table discussions are also being held on the same evening in the settlements listed below. 

The remaining public exhibitions are as follows:

• 12 June  Balintore - Seaboard Memorial Hall
• 13 June  North Kessock - North Kessock Community Centre
• 13 June  Strathpeffer - Strathpeffer Community Centre
• 14 June  Tain - Duthac Centre
• 19 June  Cawdor - Cawdor Hall
• 20 June  Nairn & Auldearn - Nairn Community Centre
• 21 June  Portmahomack - Carnegie Hall
• 22 June  Tore - Tore Hall
• 25 June  Inverness - Eastgate Shopping Centre
• 26 June  Inverness - James Cameron Community Centre
• 28 June  Inverness - Smithton Free Church

8 Jun 2012