Work has been going on quietly at the side of the A96 for months.
And now, these pictures show the first batch of homes in what will eventually be a new town near Inverness.
The vision of Tornagrain is beginning to take shape with work progressing on the mix of one-bedroom flats and two, three and four-bedroom houses in what will be its first street.
Developer Moray Estates, which owns the site, hopes the town will ultimately become the size of Nairn with a population of more than 10,000 people.
Andrew Howard, managing director of Moray Estates, said: “We are delighted to see our long planned vision for a new town at Tornagrain taking shape and look forward to welcoming the first residents in the New Year.”
Builders are now progressing with the first phase of 200 houses and flats, and construction is underway on 26 properties and the first residents are due to move in at the end of February.
A total of 10 homes are expected to be occupied by the end of March, which is when the first street is due to be finished.
The first 100 homes should be finished in the next four to five years, along with commercial units and allotments, as Tornagrain starts life as a village which will expand in planned phases over 50 or 60 years.
When finished, the new town will include almost 5,000 homes, almost 80 hectares of parks and open spaces, three primary schools and one secondary school.
Shops, libraries, churches, healthcare facilities and a community halls all form part of the blueprint.
Tornagrain is the first new town being built in Scotland in more than 50 years.
The project will also serve Inverness Airport and Castle Stuart Golf Links which are both due for expansion, as part of a wider work to cater for developments along the A96 corridor in the next 50 years.
A total of 22 of the first phase of 200 homes due to be built by house builders A & J Stephen and ZeroC have already been bought or reserved and interest has been shown in three of the commercial properties.
Work on the infrastructure at Moray Estates’ site between Inverness and Nairn has been underway for several months with all homes benefitting from Fibre to Home broadband.
