A land deal that would pave the way for a new £66million prison to be built next to the biggest retail park in Inverness is on the brink of being struck.
Negotiations between the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and landowner Hazledene Inverness are understood to be close to a conclusion.
The Press and Journal revealed in June last year that prison bosses were assessing a site proposed for the city’s new jail, behind Homebase, at the south-western end of the Inverness Shopping Park.
The boundary in the west of the site is the Highland Main Line railway, and in the north is the Stoneyfield Business Park.
The SPS turned its attention to the new site after a vocal community campaign forced it to shelve plans to locate the replacement for Porterfield Prison at Milton of Leys, on the southern outskirts of Inverness.
One source close to the talks said last night: “We’re hoping to conclude negotiations around that site shortly”.
Hazledene Inverness owns both the Milton of Leys site and the alternative location west of the retail park.
It also owns the 200-acre Stratton site, which borders Smithton and Culloden, and has been earmarked for an 1,800-home development.
Sources close to the landowner dismissed claims that the prison could be built at Stratton, saying: “There has never been any suggestion of the prison going to Stratton. There is no chance of the prison going to Stratton.”
The new proposed prison site was previously suggested for a £40million expansion of the retail park, and planning permission was recently granted for a new road over the railway to link the Inverness Campus to the shopping park.
If built by the retail park, visitors and staff at the new prison could access the site from a proposed new rail station being considered by regional transport partnership Hitrans to serve the shops, as well as enhancing links to the UHI campus and Stoneyfield Business Park.
SPS remains under contract with Hazledene Inverness over the Milton of Leys site, however it is understood both parties are confident of reaching a deal for the alternative site.
