The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Traders call for parking
Row: Businesses demand council alter city flood scheme
A fresh row has broken out over the controversial River Ness flood alleviation works as contractors prepare to start work.
Business chiefs have called for Highland Council to make 11th-hour alterations to the £8.5million first phase of the project – and have won backing from Independent councillor Donnie Kerr.
Traders in Huntly Street insist they have been kept in the dark over plans which will remove 63 parking spaces and quizzed council officials during a stormy meeting.
Concrete flood walls will be erected along the river, and streetscape features and public art will be introduced betweenNess Bridge and Friars Bridge.
Traders are desperate for the art to be ditched to protect their parking spaces – but council convener Jimmy Gray has warned that making substantial changes to the plans would have huge financial and legal implications.
He said: “There is a feeling we can do part of the scheme, or split it up, but that would be difficult.
“When you have major structural changes, there will be issues. Neil Gillies – the council’s transport director – talked about finetuning some of these around travel, but if you interfere beyond that there would be huge financial implications.”
Mr Gillies, along with project design manager Colin Howell and project engineer Matt Smith, faced heavy criticism at last week’s public meeting.
They said the council had worked to keep people informed.
Richie Paxton, runs Westbourne Guest House in Huntly Street and organised last week’s meeting, said yesterday it would be “lunacy” to carry on with the project in its current form.
He said: “No one objects to the flood walls, they need to be done.
“What we object to is the streetscape aspect, that’s where the huge loss of parking is coming from.”