Inverness Councillors agree six projects to share £640,000 in Scottish Government funding with more than half that going towards the Inverness Campus Sports Development project while Inshes will get a skate park, Ardersier an outdoor gym and the Victorian Market will get a major injection of cash
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Councillors have agreed which Inverness and area projects will benefit from Scottish Government funding at a special meeting of the local area committee..
The item was deferred at the last scheduled meeting of the Inverness city committee amid confusion when members approved all the projects that had bid for cash.
However there was not enough money in the allocation for the Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) and so a special meeting was called.
The Scottish Government allocated the council £1.9 million for the programme last year so the Inverness and area committee got a £640,433 share of the total.
The major changes from the previous meeting was the withdrawal of the Active Botanical Community Garden (ABC Garden) so it can refine the project and its fundraising strategy but PBIP remains a possibility in the future.
While the Hydro Ness Visitor Experience application which was seeking a revised sum of £245,000 for phase 2 of the £2.6 million project was refused on the basis that “funding request in excess of available budget.”
Members were then asked to agree to invest £79,000 in the ongoing Victorian Market refurbishment project.
In addition it has been recommended to invest £335,499 in the Inverness Campus Sports Development project, aiming to create new sports facilities for the east of the city.
While the remaining chunk of the cash totalling £225,934 would go to the following community projects:
- Glen Urquhart Public Hall (Glen Urquhart Rural Community Association) £45,000.
- Inshes Wheeled Sports Park (Inshes Community Association) £93,191.
- Crown Church – a community resource (Church of Scotland) £74,343.
- Ardersier Outdoor Gym (Ardersier Community Hub) £13,400.
Speaking after the unanimous vote in favour of the proposals Councillor Duncan Macpherson particularly highlighted the award of funding for Inshes Wheeled Sports Park recalling an episode involving the late Charles Kennedy.
“I was delighted to vote to agree the funding which after many years of campaigning and fundraising, will make the Wheeled Sports Park at Inshes Park in Inverness a reality,” he said.
“As someone who used to own a skateboard as an active teenager, I recalled the first ever public march I attended with my Lochaber High School peers through Fort William High Street one Saturday afternoon, chanting: “What do we want? - A skateboard park! When do we want it? - Now!
“Charles Kennedy, a fellow pupil at Lochaber High School at a school debate the following week said: “… only for the chants of the town’s skateboarders to be drowned out by the councillors of the day and the townspeople, who replied quietly: ‘What do we want? Gradual Change! – When do we want it? – In due course!’”
Cllr Macpherson added: “I would like to express my thanks to the volunteers on Inshes Park Association who have campaigned over several years, for this wonderful outdoor facility, for our youth and youngsters to benefit from.”
“The Bught Park is miles across the city in the Inverness West Ward and has a popular wheeled park and it is enjoyed daily by hundreds of youngsters.
“The Inverness South Ward is long overdue to have similar youth facilities, to benefit those families in the new densely populated areas of Inverness.”
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