People of Inverness and surrounding areas are being given the opportunity to help shape plans for the second and final phase of development at Inverness Campus.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has led the development of more than 40 hectares of the site so far. This now includes 47,000sqm of floorspace across several buildings set within a high-quality parkland.
The organisation is planning a programme of public consultation and engagement in the new year that will be used to inform the planning application for phase two.
HIE has been developing Inverness Campus since 2007 with construction starting in 2013. The purpose of the development is to support the growth in life sciences industries and encourage collaboration between business, academia and research.
Since its opening in 2015 the Campus has grown into a world-class business location and is already home to 14 commercial enterprises as well as organisations such as UHI, SRUC, NHS Highland and HIE.
HIE has appointed strategic planners Turnberry to lead on preparing an updated masterplan for the remaining undeveloped area of the site, based the vision set out in the original design concept.
Turnberry has submitted a ‘Proposal of Application Notice’ to The Highland Council setting out plans for a programme of pre-application public consultation, with a view to a full planning application in the spring of 2025.
The consultation will include a public exhibition of the proposals with members of the team on hand to answer questions. This will be at the HIE office An Lòchran,10 Inverness Campus, on Friday 24 January (between 11.00 and 18.00) and Saturday 25 January (between 10.00 and 14.00).
Four weeks later, on Thursday 21 February (between 11.00 and 18.00) and 22 February (between 10.00 and 14.00), there will be a further consultation event, an update on the plans, at the same location.
David Oxley, HIE’s director of strategic projects said: “We need to make sure that the masterplan to complete the development of Inverness Campus continues the momentum created by phase one. It’s important that public and stakeholders can contribute to this process and that’s what this consultation is all about.
“We look forward to welcoming people at the two events and hearing their thoughts on the draft proposals. All the feedback we receive will be considered carefully as part of the planning application.”