PICTURES: River Ness anglers in showdown talks with Highland Council over “mess” of Riverside Way redevelopment near Ness Islands in Inverness
Inverness anglers are holding showdown talks with Highland Council after voicing fresh anger over works they say threaten their traditional River Ness beat.
Members of the century-old Inverness Angling Club - a major critic of the local authority’s riverbank developments including the controversial Gathering Place ‘artwork’ - claim council officials hold a vendetta against them for speaking out publicly on their grievances.
President Steve Watt is furious that the aforementioned ‘bridge to nowhere’ artwork, which sparked public outrage given the £260,000-plus cost, is now accompanied by a nearby ‘fence to nowhere’ as latest works take shape.
They have called the current active travel improvement works “a mess”, but claim their views are being ignored by the council "because we're asking questions" about the Riverside Way project, the Gathering Place and the Ness Hydro scheme.
The anglers allege the council does not have ownership of the land that permits them to develop it, insisting the land is untitled and owned by the community.
Mr Watt initially thought he had secured a meeting with council chief executive Derek Brown for this morning (Wednesday), but the meeting is with Malcolm MacLeod, the council’s assistant chief executive of place.
Mr Watt said: “At the General’s Well, they have now put a fence in front of a fence.
“It restricts our access to the river. The mess they have made down there is unbelievable. The workmanship is poor. It isn’t going to last.
“We’ve had the bridge to nowhere. Now we have the fence to nowhere.
“The fence starts and then it stops. I asked ‘what happened, did you run out of money?’
“They told me it was in case children fall in, so I suggested they better put a fence around the whole of the islands.
“There’s been no proper consultation, despite our best efforts to get dialogue with them since this was put to us in October last year.
“They have just railroaded this through.
“They are taking away the Fisherman's Car Park. They are going to drill holes in the tar, put ground on top of it and then plant grass. That’s the quality of workmanship.
“We’re going to have six parking spaces for 350 members, when we used to have 20.
“I’m raging about it. It’s shocking.
“They are pushing us out. It is all going to be car-charging points and they are going to meter it all.
“They’ve taken away everything from us now - we’ve got nothing left.
“The Kings Golf Course at Torvean is council-owned and has car parking for all their members.
“What is wrong with Inverness Angling Club? Why are we getting hammered?
“We’re not going to accept it. They're not taking our car park away from us.
“I’m going to go to town with the chief executive but I’ve no idea whether that will get us anywhere. They don’t seem to care.”
The council say they have made several approaches to speak to the Inverness Angling Club as stakeholders at the riverside and would appreciate them “being reciprocated”.
But Mr Watt added: “I can assure you we had one meeting and it was cut short, back in November. We’ve had nothing since and they’ve not replied to any of our contact.”
Prior to the meeting, a spokeswoman for Highland Council said: “Council officials have offered to meet with representatives of the Inverness Angling Club on several occasions to progress on-going liaison with the angling club as one of the key stakeholders on the river.
“We would welcome our approaches being reciprocated so that we can build on the agreement in principle reached with regard to parking arrangements at the Little Isle Pool and address other matters of concern.”
