Inverness BID rejects Academy Street proposals as 80 per cent of members are opposed or strongly opposed
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Hopes of convincing Inverness Business Improvement District (BID) with the meeting seem to have not met with success as the body reports that 80 per cent of its members are either opposed or strongly opposed.
Inverness BID director Lorraine Bremner McBride said that businesses have been in contact and either do not have enough information, did not have enough input, or feel they were not properly heard.
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She said: “Some of our members cite that they do not have enough information or were unable to attend the engagement sessions held in March and many report that they have not been properly consulted at the crucial influential and formative stages.
“As it stands, 80 per cent of our businesses who responded to the most recent BID survey stated they are either opposed or strongly opposed to the current plan with just over 12 per cent being in favour or strongly in favour.
“BID stands with and by all our members and we would very much welcome our businesses being given an opportunity to help find solutions and to have their voice heard in the time remaining.”
She added: “The majority of businesses are strongly in favour of change and aesthetically improving the area. The issues outstanding relate therefore to the detail.
“For example, the 2000 vehicle movements per day funder directed ‘cap’ which applied to Option B [in the original proposals agreed at council] has been confirmed to also apply to the current proposal meaning the same overall outcome is effected.
“Buses account for circa 25 per cent of this total meaning there will be potentially just 1500 vehicle movements per day permissible for all other users which is the equivalent of one vehicle per minute in a 24-hour period or a near 90 per cent reduction from the peak six years ago.
“The current proposal also states that ‘survey data indicates that around 75 per cent of motorised traffic uses Academy Street as a through route across the city’ but at 6.4 in the 24/11/22 Inverness Area Committee papers it was noted that: ‘…an analysis of the vehicular traffic (automatic number plate tracking) using Academy Street has demonstrated that on average 50 per cent of vehicles are using the street as a through route, increasing to 75 per cent exiting at Chapel Street in the morning peak…’
“If correct, that means 50 per cent of vehicles, aside from at morning peak (circa 4000 to 5000 vehicles potentially) are accessing the City Centre and/or its amenities daily which exceeds the applied cap.
