Nicola Sturgeon has not ruled out breaking-up Highland Council and devolving local decisions to a new authority covering Inverness city.
The first minister’s intervention during a visit to Skye opened the door to the idea – which has already caused a major row between senior Nationalist figures in the north.
Councillor Richard Laird – the deputy leader of the SNP group on the local authority – had called for the creation of an Inverness City Council but was immediately rebuked by his boss Maxine Smith.
Quizzed about the idea yesterday, Ms Sturgeon suggested the proposal could be considered as part of a new consultation on devolving powers to north communities.
The SNP leader said: “We have got no plans at the moment for changing the structure of local authorities, but on the other hand we have opened a consultation on our island communities and it is really important that we listen to all of the proposals put forward in that consultation.
“One of the things I want to hear on Skye today is encouraging people to put these views into the consultation, so equally we’re not going to rule anything out.”
Mr Laird welcomed the first minister’s comments last night.
The Inverness Central councillor said: “I’m greatly encouraged that, first, local parliamentarians Dave Thompson and Ian Blackford have supported my view and now the first minister has said on record that she wouldn’t rule the option out.
“This is my personal view and not necessarily that of the council’s SNP group, but I’m encouraged with the way the public debate is going.
“At the moment there is no local government in the Highlands. We have ‘regional’ government at best and the things that suit communities in Caithness will not necessarily work in Lochaber, and things that work in Nairn will not necessarily work in Skye.
“We need local solutions to local issues and the structure of Highland Council won’t allow for that.”
However, council leader Margaret Davidson insisted last night that local democracy already had its best chance for decades.
“For the first time in the 20 years I’ve been involved with the council we’ve got a terrific, fast-moving, localism agenda,” the Independent member said.
“There’s nothing stopping area committees reinventing themselves, community planning partnerships forming up.
“We’ve got a real complexity of things going on. And, more importantly, we’re devolving some of the budgets, starting with the community service budget – roads, housing and waste.
“We’ll be having a meaningful conversation with the Highlands about how much people really want to be involved in decision-making.
“There needs to be something different, but we’re doing that without the need for legislation.
“We’ll put our energy into that over the next year. We’ll then evaluate where we want to go. And then, as the council and as the Highlands, we’ll say whether or not we want to ask for legislation to break up the council and its budgets.”
Councillor Smith, leader of the opposition SNP group, said the party would debate the issue.
The Cromarty Firth member said: “I think as an SNP group we will open discussions on it in the next few weeks.
“But it’s not something you discuss just once. It’s something you would probably take time over. But we will certainly debate it.”