Inverness projects hope to secure Scottish Government funding
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THE revamp of the Victorian Market and further development at a newly-opened creative academy are among a range of Inverness projects to be considered for regeneration cash.
City councillors will today rank the proposals to be put forward for Town Centre Regeneration funding from the Scottish Government.
Almost £600,000 is up for grabs from the £2.96 million fund which aims to encourage town and city centres to diversify and flourish.
A decision on Inverness projects was deferred following a row at Highland Council’s environment, development and infrastructure committee meeting earlier this month when it was agreed they should go to the city committee for ranking in order of priority.
Originally eight proposals were put forward although officials deem four are ineligible, while one has been withdrawn by the applicant.
The other three are the Inverness Creative Academy which is applying for £250,000 for phase two of the development at its Midmills building, the Victorian Market which is seeking £300,000 and the Inverness Lighting Project which wants £150,000 to enable a three-day light event.
The Midmills project, being undertaken by arts charity, Wasps, would increase public access to the B-listed building where 30 artists’ studios were created in the first phase.
A report to be presented at today’s meeting states: “In addition to creating an additional 80 workspaces, phase two of the redevelopment is the more public-facing side of the facility with access to gallery space/retail and the cafe, increasing further the transformational impact of this development.”
The Victorian Market project aims to create a quality food and drink offering including 18 units and flexible entertainment space.
The lighting project, led by Highland Council, proposes to light up various sites across the city centre.
Officers say while this project does not fit well with the funding criteria, it it can be considered.
They have assessed the four projects ineligible for funding are a new skate park at Ardersier, refurbishment of the Pavilion at Cromal Hill, Ardersier, installation of a full-size synthetic sports pitch at Inverness Campus and the rebuilding of the fisherman’s hut at Bught Park.
An application by the Highland Print Studio for funding towards buying the Dr Black Memorial Hall in Bank Street, Inverness, was withdrawn.
In a separate report to go to the meeting, councillors will be asked to agree £250,000 of developer contributions relating to development in the east of the city towards the campus sports pitch.
