Questions raised about Inverness city centre flower displays
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
The cost of having floral displays in Inverness city and the wider surrounds came under the spotlight when councillors considered an application for grant assistance.
Highland councillors were involved in “detailed discussion” at sub-committee level about the application from Inverness Business Improvement District (BID) to the city’s Common Good Fund.
The need to be mindful of the cost-of-living crisis was raised according to minutes, along with the financial outlook of the Common Good Fund itself.
A move to try and better understand the costs involved in the provision and maintenance of the floral displays, which always prove popular, and to potentially reduce costs in future years, was welcomed.
It was explained that maintaining floral displays was quite complex and included not only watering but feeding.
Further work was also required to establish whether offenders sentenced at court to community payback could potentially assist.
One councillor queried whether less expensive plants could be used, but it was explained that this had been tried previously without success, and that Bught Nursery knew which plants did well in different parts of the city.
It was proposed that the applications for £52,410 be approved for city floral displays plus £23,631 for the wider city area for 2024 with the city of Inverness committee meeting to decide the matter on Tuesday.
Further contributions can also be sought from businesses in future years.
BID manages and co-ordinates arrangements for more than 650 floral displays and hanging baskets staged each summer on premises throughout the city centre including arranging planting, installation, maintenance, watering twice weekly and removal via a project jointly funded by the Inverness Common Good Fund and BID.
