High-rise plan for Inverness
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A HIGH rise business district would be created around Farraline Park and the area turned into a major civic hub under ambitious new plans for the future of Inverness city centre.
Student residences would also be built in the area, while land around Glebe Street would be landscaped to encourage people down to the riverside and provide a gateway to the city.
The ideas are contained in a major development brief unveiled this week and produced jointly by Highland Council, Inverness Business Improvement District (BID) and other groups. Although aspirational, if approved it would help guide future development in the city centre.
Other suggestions include a dedicated drop off point for tourist coaches in Strothers Lane and the relocation of the tourist information centre to the former toilet block in Castle Wynd.
The document will be considered by councillors on Monday and put out to public consultation early next year. It will then be circulated to developers in an attempt to attract private investment into the city centre.
“The city centre needs investment to bring it up to the standards we need and facilities we are looking for,” said Stewart Nicol, chief executive of Inverness Chamber of Commerce, who welcomed the new vision.
The redevelopment of Farraline Park would involve the relocation of the bus station and the library and the demolition of some existing buildings.
The brief states that the area offers a rare opportunity for Inverness’s first significant multi-storey development.
“There may be an opportunity to (re)develop more elevated buildings in the area,” it comments.
The student hub would feature accommodation and a student union as part of the new university campus at Beechwood, helping spark the kind of urban renewal witnessed in parts of Dundee, Liverpool and Leeds.
It is envisaged that the Old Town’s historic buildings would be brought back into use to “re-energise” the city centre and the Victorian Market developed to include restaurants, bars and live entertainment, taking inspiration from Merchant Square and Princess Square in Glasgow.
More streetscape improvements would take place in Bridge Street, Bank Street and Huntly Street, while extra work in Academy Street would shift the emphasis from vehicles to pedestrians.
Iconic public art and seating similar to that on the Ness Islands could be placed in the Glebe Street area to form a city gateway.
