Ideas for ‘eyesore’ Crown Road Wall in Inverness city centre sought – was decorated with a mural by the artist Mike Inglis in 2011 as part of a £60,000 renovation but it was removed in 2016

An Inverness city centre “eyesore” could be transformed if a motion by three councillors gains support today.

Crown Road Wall was decorated with a mural by the artist Mike Inglis in 2011 as part of a £60,000 renovation.

Featured within the design were local landmarks and characters, including the well-known Inverness tramp known as Forty Pockets.

But the artwork fell into disrepair and was removed in 2016, leaving the large façade near Eastgate Shopping Centre blank.

Councillors Glynis Campbell-Sinclair, Ken Gowans and Ian Brown are co-signatories in a bid for support from Highland Council’s city of Inverness committee for a re-imagining of the retaining wall.

Cllr Brown of the Inverness Millburn ward said: “We’re very interested to discover what the public and city stakeholders would like to fill that space. Now there’s nothing there, it is just an eyesore street you pass by. It is crying out for something better.”

The previous celebrated artwork included landmarks like the Greig Street footbridge, with references to Highland clans, history and the natural environment, as well as people like Forty Pockets and artist Angus McPhee (1916-1997), who created extraordinary garments from foraged sheep’s wool and grasses while at Craig Dunain hospital.

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