Council endorses twenty year vision for Inverness City centre
Council endorses twenty year vision for Inverness City centre
A planning and development process to realise a twenty year vision for the City of Inverness has been given the go-ahead by Highland Councillors at the City of Inverness Area Committee.
Members have agreed 3 key priorities for the city as:
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improvements to city centre access and connections;
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development of Academy Street and its surrounding area; and
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redevelopment of key sites (e.g. Inverness Castle) to create visitor and cultural attractions.
The 3 key priorities were established from the results of two consultation events held by the Council – a stakeholder workshop in March 2014 and a public exhibition in April 2014.
A City Centre Action Plan will be developed from a series of actions identified through the consultation process to achieve the key 3 city centre priorities. Members agreed that the revised Action Plan will be incorporated into an updated Inverness City Centre Development Brief for consideration by the City of Inverness Area Committee prior to a public consultation.
A group of senior council officers tasked with delivering regeneration and improvements to the city - the Inverness Task Force – were given approval by Members to coordinate the future delivery of the City Centre Action Plan.
Leader of the City of Inverness Area Committee, Councillor Ian Brown said: “This is all about building on the vibrancy and vitality of our city centre. The Action Plan aims to increase the number of people using the city centre and to keep it firmly on the map as the Capital of the Highland’s shopping, business and social hub.
“I welcome the feedback that was received during the early stakeholder and public consultation events that has helped to inform the early Action Plan proposals and can give assurance that the public will again be invited to have their say on the Inverness City Centre Development Brief that will go out to formal public consultation in the future.”
Councillor Thomas Prag, Chair of the Council’s Development and Infrastructure Committee said: “I find this City Centre Action Plan very encouraging, due to two main factors. We have consulted widely at the early stages with the public and the task force of senior managers have ensured that there has been competence to the process of creating the Plan. Linkages and connections of different parts of the City and how people make their way around the City will improve footfall for businesses.”
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