Cradlehall pharmacy in Inverness gets go-ahead at last
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The owner of a planned community pharmacy in Cradlehall has signed the lease for a new property and will take possession of the keys to the shop in the next few weeks.
Pharmacist Mo Ameen has signed all the paperwork to allow him to open in the current E2W property shop, and thanked the local community and Councillor Duncan Macpherson, for all their help.
Mr Ameen applied to open a pharmacy four years ago, and after working his way through the planning and licensing committee plans to build his life in Inverness.
Mr Ameen’s family own a number of pharmacies in the central belt, with until now, Mr Ameen being based in Ayrshire.
He said: “It has been four years of hard work, but it is thanks to the grassroots effort and the support of the community and politicians, especially Cllr Macpherson.
“The planning process is a long one – but due to Covid this has made it even longer.
“We have now secured the premises at Cradlehall community shopping area which will be a good location. It will be very much a local community pharmacy.
“I am thankful for the warm welcome I have received. Everyone we have worked with has been very kind, and the NHS has told us that they received the largest number of letters in support of our application that it has ever seen.”
Cllr Macpherson said: “It’s been a four-year long campaign and a fruitful one, now that the NHS Highland community pharmacies department have finally approved the new pharmacy to serve the residents of Cradlehall and Westhill.
“I am delighted that Cradlehall is finally getting its first pharmacy and this will put an end to locals having to make a four-mile round trip to other city pharmacies, just to collect their prescriptions.”
