Well it is nearly the end of 2012 and as I prepare to enter the soul destroying process of participating in yet another major National Plan consultation, I am taking stock of what has actually happened in the area the council has called the 'A96 Corridor' (expanded from the area as originally defined through the ILP, I perceive, via non-stat Masterplanning) ; a 'Corridor' which was a major beneficiary of development due to its inclusion in NPF2 - inclusion of which in the NPF pre-empted the local plan process.
As far as I can see (since 2006) there has been outline permission granted for over 10,000 homes and lots of business and educational space. Major sites are:
Brownfield, Whiteness, 714 acres and (1950 units plus other uses);
Greenfield, East Inverness, 195 Acres and 2,500 units - with other uses;
'Greenfield', North East of Tornagrain, 259 Hectares (640 acres) and 4,960 units with other uses;
'Greenfield', Inverness Airport Business Park, 500 acres - no housing, extensive landscaping;
'Greenfield', Delnies west of Nairn, 638 ha of land (1576 acres), 300 units, plus Golfing stuff, Equestrian, Tourism, Heritage, community woodland (part of the site lies within the Inner Moray Firth Special Protection Area/Ramsar site.)
Reserved matters approved
Greenfield, Inverness Campus at Beechwood, 100 acres - no residences planned at site as far as I can tell. (originally shown as 'Green Wedge' on ILP* and extending to some 215 acres in*).
Overall that seems to be around 3000 acres of 'greenfield' and 714 acres of brownfield falling within a development line already with permission.
More development proposals in the pipeline:
100+ acres at the Beechwood Campus - which I believe requires the construction of a major link road before any application for development can be considered;
[*,*...Although a site is identified in the Inverness Local Plan at Ashton for a campus
development, an option appraisal was undertaken and a preferred site identified
at Beechwood Farm located to the east of the A9. This site is currently part of the
green wedge as shown within the adopted Inverness Local Plan but is identified
as a campus site within the A96 Corridor Framework, which has been approved as supplementary planning guidance by the Council. The site which covers some
219 acres (88 hectares), is shown on the attached map to this committee report
(appendix 1).
...Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is currently investing up to £25m in the 215-acre former Beechwood Farm site to create Inverness Campus as a high quality location for business, research, learning and leisure in the Highland capital.]
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