A senior Highland Councillor launched a strong bid to save Inverness allotment land from development, but lost by two votes.
The Inner Moray Firth local development plan (IMFLDP) will guide planning decisions in the area for the next 20 years.
This week, the draft plan had the latest public airing at Inverness area committee.
It’s already been through five council committees and an extensive public consultation.
Highland Council officers said the consultation attracted 1,240 comments, with nearly three quarters specifically relating to the local detail of the plan.
And it was the local detail that bogged down the debate at Inverness committee.
Council ‘taking last blade of grass’, says Christie
Across two hours of deliberations, Inverness councillors grappled with boundary tweaks and proposed development sites.
But the biggest thorn in the council’s side was the fate of green space at Knocknagael in Inverness southside.
The draft development plan allocates the area for mixed use development, including up to 200 homes.
Inverness deputy leader Chris Ballance moved the recommendations, albeit with a caveat to reduce the number of homes to less than 100. His motion also suggested that the council could reduce the size of the allotments in future, if there’s not local demand for it.
Mr Ballance said this allowed as much flexibility for development as possible – given the huge demand for social housing in the city.
Knocknagael Allotments Association is currently trying to secure the land through a community asset transfer.
Inverness councillor Alasdair Christie tabled an amendment to protect the area as a community and agricultural site.
“The proposal from councillor Ballance basically takes away this green space in its entirety,” said Mr Christie. “It’s going to put 99 houses on a site, joining two existing estates.
“This is about ambition in a community. We’ve got a strong proposal from a community group, driven by people who care passionately about their area and growing initiatives. These are community orchards, gardens and allotments.
“The right thing for this is to support the community’s wishes, not to ride roughshod over them. There are other areas we can look at for social housing… before we take the last blade of green grass.”
Mr Christie added his surprise that Mr Ballance, as a Green member, supported the housing plan.
After considerable delay, the fate of Knocknagael allotment rested on the vote. Councillors voted 12-10 in favour of the housing plan.
But it’s not over yet for Knocknagael, which could still secure the land through the asset transfer process.
Development plan moves on to next stage
Other tweaks to the Inner Moray Firth development plan had more success.
Councillors agreed to delay developing housing land in Croy until issues with the roads infrastructure and green space at the primary school are resolved. They also voted to protect Beauly’s Fraser Street allotments from development.
An updated draft of the development plan will go to the council’s economy committee in February 2023, before being sent to Ministers to consider.
If agreed, it will come into force in 2024.
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