If you have been driving the A96 between Nairn and Inverness in the last few months you can’t fail to have noticed the massive construction project at Delnies.
You know the one, the one where you’ve most likely been stuck at the temporary traffic lights at some point.
Huge amounts of earth have already been moved to make way for a housing site that will encompass hundreds of homes, shops and a new primary school.
What you might not know is that the site visible now is just a tiny part of a wider vision that could stretch to the coastline and further down the A96.
A masterplan entitled “a new future for Nairn” has been approved encompassing a massive area stretching across farmland and down the coast towards Ardersier.
Eventually, the wider area could include a new 18-hole golf course, club house, golf academy, hotel, equestrian centre, community woodland and country park.
When the plans were first unveiled in 2008 they were described as a vision to make Nairn “the Brighton of the north”.
The Press and Journal has analysed the documents that have been submitted to Highland Council about the Delnies development west of Nairn to ensure you have everything you need to know about the plans, including;
- Who is leading the current housebuilding project next to the A96 and what buyers can expect.
- Plans to introduce a new primary school for Nairn at Delines.
- What the introduction of a new roundabout on the A96 at Nairn will mean for drivers.
- Why the approval of housing at Delnies was controversial with Nairn residents.
- And what the wider Delnies masterplan could mean for Nairn and surrounding area.
How many homes at Delnies and who is building?
The most obvious work that has been taking place at Delnies in recent months is the huge amount of land preparation being done for housing.
Housebuilder Barratt Homes has been leading this part of the project alongside the Cawdor Maintenance Trust, which has been spearheading the wider masterplan.
The firm secured permission to build 300 new homes in summer last year.
A quarter of the new properties will be classed as “affordable” in accordance with Highland Council policies for large developments.
Documents written by planners indicate the new homes will be a mix of detached, semi-detached and terraced homes, which will be “generally” built over two-storeys.
Plans indicate the first homes will be built near the roundabout and further along the proposed main road through the development.
Homes will then be built on the southern and northern edges of the site before the middle is filled in.
The development also includes a dedicated “village green” in the heart of the news to provide an area for children to play.
Next to the park will be a “commercial hub”, which is intended to provide valuable services, including shops, for residents.
A turning circle for buses will also be created near the school for pupil transport and to allow commercial routes to potentially be extended into the area.
Landscaping will create a barrier to shield the homes on the southern edge of the site from the noise from the A96.
New school could be coming to Nairn
The Delnies housing project does include a site for a new primary school for Nairn to be built in the future.
No date has been set for when it would be built, other than saying at an “appropriate time” to be decided by Highland Council.
Scottish Government statistics show Rosebank Primary was at 81.5% of its capacity in 2022 while Millbank Primary was at 75.9%.
Until the new school is built, most children staying in the new homes will need to walk to Rosebank Primary and Nairn Academy for class.
Documents explain new traffic lights will be installed on the A96 to the east of the new roundabout to give youngsters a safe route to get to school.
There will also be a new footpath built within the housing development along the A96 to allow pupils and other residents safe access into Nairn.
Highland Council’s transport planning team highlighted the homes would be over two miles from Rosebank Primary, which would potentially trigger the need for a school bus for under 8s.
Changes to A96 roundabout and Nairn speed limits
Motorists driving between Nairn and Inverness will already have noticed big changes to the A96 at the Delnies housing development.
Temporary traffic lights have been on the road for several months and vehicles are now being directed to drive round the new roundabout created to access the site.
The new junction means speed limit boundaries on the A96 in the west of Nairn will be extended.
A new 30mph limit will be introduced at about the western boundary of the site with a 40mph limit coming into force slightly further west of that.
Roads within the Delnies housing development will have a 20mph limit like the rest of Nairn.
The creation of the roundabout was controversial in itself.
After initially getting indicative planning permission for the development with roundabout access, Cawdor Maintenance Trust later tried to amend them.
Instead, the group proposed changing the access to a T-junction with a central turning lane to turn right into the site.
The changes were initially refused by Highland Council after objections from locals, a decision later upheld by Scottish Government officials in 2017.
Reporter Padraic Thornton ruled a roundabout was “necessary” on safety grounds while concluding the alternative T-junction proposal would “endanger public safety”.
Objections opposed new Nairn housing at Delnies
It is perhaps unsurprising with a project on the scale of Delnies that objections have been submitted at various stages.
Nairn West and Suburban Community Council opposed the final approval of the 300 homes, which was granted last year.
The group argued the development would contravene the Local Place Plan’s assertion there should be no major developments in the town until an A96 bypass is completed.
Cawdor and West Nairnshire Community Council also opposed the plans.
Meanwhile, planners received nine objections from members of the public.
Concerns raised included arguments the plans didn’t comply with the already-approved masterplan, there would be an impact on drainage and on traffic flow on the A96.
Nairn and Cawdor councillor Paul Oldham attempted to block the development when it was discussed at Highland Council’s south planning committee.
At the time, he said: “Today we have seen planning fail our communities.
“We are allowing a development which will create a blot on the outskirts of Nairn, is not well connected with the community, and will not be of benefit to the community of Nairn.”
Planning permission was ultimately unanimously approved after Mr Oldham withdrew his motion, which had been backed by fellow Nairn and Cawdor councillor Laurie Fraser, to refuse it.
Ahead of the meeting planners had recommended it for approval, describing the housing plans as a “comprehensive and coordinated approach to the development of the site”.
Officials also dismissed worries raised by Nairn West and Suburban Community Council about overdevelopment in the town because planning permission in principle had already been granted in 2021.
Huge scale of wider Delnies development on Nairn outskirts
The initial housing development that can be seen next to the A96 at the moment is just the beginning of what could be a huge project on the outskirts of Nairn at Delnies.
The masterplan that has been approved covers about 1,500 acres, which is more than four times the size of the footprint of the entire Inverness Airport airfield.
It has been spearheaded by the Cawdor family through their Cawdor Maintenance Trust.
When the vision was unveiled in 2008, it was said the aristocratic family were “very keen to put something back into Nairn”.
At the time, Lord Cawdor said he wanted the town to become the “Brighton of the north”.
He said: “I’ve previously said that we view Nairn as a location without comparison in the Moray Firth area.
“We wish to work with the people of Nairn to enhance those qualities of the area which, not so long ago, made it such a magnet for visitors.”
The homes now being led by Barratt are the first phase of the huge masterplan, which was finally approved in 2015.
Future phases could include;
- A five-star hotel, spa and conference facilities at Hilton of Delnies.
- A new 18-hole golf course, club house, driving range and wetland with bird hides next to the Moray Firth coast.
- An equestrian centre at Wester Delnies.
- And a tourism and heritage centre, perhaps looking at the history of Nairn, its coastline and its link with the Cawdors at Easter Delnies.
While indicative planning permission for all of the above has already been granted as part of the Delnies masterplan, additional submissions would have to be made before any can be completed.
Conversation