Inverness councillors have chosen five projects for a potential windfall from the Scottish Government’s town centre fund of almost £600m for the city.
They overturned officer’s recommendations and returned two previously rejected bids to the list, including a £40,000 contribution to a revamp of The Pavilion at Cromal Hill, Ardersier, and a £20,000 contribution towards a new Fisherman’s Hut at Bught Park.
The councillors also rejected a recommended bid of £150,000 towards three mobile lighting projectors for the city, saying although the light show projects would be welcome, the projectors didn’t count as infrastructure, one of the criteria for the funding.
Councillors agreed the sum of £160,000 towards the second phase of the Inverness Creative Academy Wasps project to enable greater public access to the facility.
The project includes meeting spaces for tenants and the community; publicly accessible exhibition, workshop and events spaces around a large social enterprise café; 54 affordable creative industry workspaces; 26 flexible co-working spaces for freelancers, start-ups and visiting organisations; and an access ramp and lift.
They also agreed to a £250,000 bid towards the redevelopment of the Victorian Market Hall to create 18 units, flexible entertainment space and food and drink offering.
The Inverness Campus sports pitch bid of £126,000 for a multi-use sports pitch was also agreed.
It will be floodlit, fenced and constructed to World Rugby, FIFA and Sports and Play Construction Association (SAPCA) standards.
Cromal Hill Recreation Trust’s proposal is to refurbish their Ardersier pavilion with new windows, doors, showers flooring, kitchen units and external refresh.
Inverness Angling Club is seeking £20k towards the rebuilding of their outdated and unserviced hut at Bught Road.
All the projects will now go forward to the council’s town centre working group for further consideration.
The Inverness funding is the city’s share of a £2,965,000 capital grant to council from the Scottish Government.
The council obliged to commit all funding before end March 2020, to be spent by end October 2020.
