Highland Council planners have recommended the refusal of plans for a major retail expansion in Inverness.
Aberdeen Standard Investments’ large extension to Inshes retail park goes before the council’s south planning applications committee next week.
The council granted planning permission in principle in 2017 and the developer is now seeking a three-year extension.
However, the application attracted several objections and is not supported by planning officers.
Aberdeen Standard Investments wants to build a 4,700sqm retail unit plus eight smaller units beside the existing Inshes Retail Park.
The development includes shops, a pub/restaurant and allotments, together with a large car park and landscaping.
The developer plans to create a new access junction off the busy Inshes Roundabout, which would cut across the public road and Dell Burn.
‘Unsustainable and outdated’
The council says a lot has changed since the Inshes planning application was first approved.
In particular, the decline of the city centre during Covid and the declaration of a climate emergency.
In an unusually sharp critique, the development team states: “The layout and design of this car based, big box, retail-led proposal is unsustainable, outdated and of poor quality.”
They say the development could displace shoppers from the city centre, in breach of the Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan.
The council is also concerned about increased traffic and the lack of active travel options.
Inshes and Milton of Leys Community Council has similar concerns, though they stopped short of formally objecting.
Meanwhile, both Sepa and the council say the area is at risk of flooding.
Councillors on the south planning committee will meet on March 22 to consider the application.
