Inverness City Partnership was formed in 2001 to advance the growth and success of the city region. Ten partners represent the main public, private and voluntary sector bodies, all working together to deliver the Inverness City Vision – the core of our strategic agenda. The Scottish Executive has awarded Inverness a Cities Growth Fund budget of £5.949m for 2003 – 2008 to progress the City Vision which prioritises infrastructure improvements across a number of themes.
The document can be downloaded via the link below:
Further information is available at www.citypartnership.org.uk.
If you wish to discuss the issues further, please contact David Haas, City Manager on (01463) 724 201, email: david.haas@highland.gov.uk.
This document has been prepared by the Highland Council together with its Community Planning Partners for submission to the Scottish Executive in response to the Cities Review.
Inverness City Partnership comprises representatives of :
The Highland Council
Highlands & Islands Enterprise
Inverness and Nairn Enterprise
Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board
Inverness Chamber of Commerce
Inverness City Centre Management Initiative
University of the Highlands & Islands Millennium Institute
It works within the framework of the Wellbeing Alliance, the strategic Community Planning Partnership for the Highlands, which includes :
The Highland Council
NHS Highland
Communities Scotland
Scottish Natural Heritage
Northern Constabulary
Scottish Council Development and Industry
Voluntary Sector representatives
The Vision is based upon the Highland Community Plan, the Highland Structure Plan and the Inverness Local Plan
Introduction
The Scottish Executive embarked on a review of Scotland’s cities in 2001. These were seen as places serving wider regions and an assessment made of their individual as well as collective prospects for integrated economic, environmental and social development. From this emerged "Building Better Cities" – a framework to address the challenges facing each of the cities.
Following the award of city status in 2000, a seminar – Organising the City Region – was held in an effort to encourage wide-ranging debate on the major challenges facing Inverness. All of the key public and community organisations contributed to the debate. The outcome was the formation of the Inverness City Partnership and the development of a Strategic Agenda, now incorporated into the present City Vision.
To tackle the challenges, the Scottish Executive has committed £3.1m over three years to Inverness from the new City Growth Fund. This is to be invested primarily on physical infrastructure (including transport), the public realm, physical improvements of sites and facilities for business. Before releasing this funding, the Executive has requested the submission of a City-Vision statement, supplemented with a three-year spending Programme that will help deliver the new strategic agenda. What follows is the Inverness City Partnership’s response to this challenge, developed under the Highland Council’s leadership in collaboration with its partners in the overarching Wellbeing Alliance, the strategic framework for delivering Community Planning in the Highlands.
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PREFACE
Inverness and the Highlands have together undergone a much-needed transformation in the last 30 years. In making the shift from a marginal provincial place to burgeoning mainstream one, Inverness now commands attention both as a City and capital of the Gaidhealtachd. It is widely acknowledged as a dynamic and vibrant place making a growing contribution to Scottish business, civic and cultural life. The collective objective of the City Partnership is to maintain that progress and momentum.
The next 30 years presage equally invigorating changes as the city looks to consolidate its performance and reputation as "the natural place to be". Our core strategy will be to ‘cherish the best of the old whilst capturing the zest of the new’. Rooted in Highland traditions, proud of our distinctive heritage and quality of life, but eager to assimilate new ways, to champion social change and to
pioneer sustainable forms of development which will raise our standard of living and international reputation. The challenge is immense, the prize invaluable. In the following pages we speculate on the sort of place that Inverness should become in order to truly reap those rewards.
Whilst the future is uncertain, the City Partnership aspires to provide the strong inclusive leadership necessary to harness change by driving through essential infrastructure and environmental projects. Our immediate investment priorities are set out in the subsequent Programme which the new City Growth Fund will certainly help to kickstart. Implementation of the Vision will nonetheless require boldness, imagination and perseverance to avoid the trap of incrementalism and mediocre schemes. Our report is therefore populated with illustrations which are indicative of the scale, quality and scope of changes sought over the coming years.
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Viewed in three, ten or thirty years time, our aspiration is that Inverness will exhibit progressively more of the following ten change conditions:
A place with critical mass
The population of the Inverness built up area will double to some 100,000 persons by 2030. Inverness & Culloden will be home to some 60,000 citizens, Nairn 10,000, whilst a further 30,000 people will reside in a series of new communities laid out on best ‘garden city’ principles along the intervening A96 corridor. Inverness needs impetus. It must get bigger more quickly if it is to create the economies of scale, achieve the diversity and complexity of a ‘capital’ city, and acquire more of the self-perpetuating forces that sustain economic momentum. Given a population skewed towards the middle-aged and elderly, much of the increase will come from retaining more of our youth in their home communities, as well as by attracting many new migrant families drawn here by the distinctive education, work and lifestyle opportunities. Equally vital will be programmes to entice back those displaced ‘natives’ who have amassed fortune and expertise furth of the Highlands but remain keen to uncover their roots and plough back their experience, enthusiasm and talents. More people are required of course to address continuing labour and skill shortages. A bigger population will create the necessary demand base to better anchor many local enterprises, whilst making possible the development of innovative business clusters needed to drive the regional economy. Greater size and scale will also reinforce Inverness’ strategic role as the focus for higher order commercial, professional and public services which help to further underpin the wellbeing of the wider Highlands.
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A competitive place
The city’s workforce will be younger, better-trained, more adaptable and achieve greater productivity than Scottish or UK counterparts. Unemployment will be consistently below national levels, per capita GDP no longer lagging 20 points behind the EC norm and people will enjoy living standards comparable with most affluent international comparators. Inverness must achieve sustained economic growth, built on a successful strategy of trading indigenous products and branded services whilst selectively fostering leading edge technologies and growth sector companies. Its renowned tourism industry snaps hard on Edinburgh’s heels as the most sought-after visitor destination in Scotland. Budget flights will bring tourists disposed to trace their ancestors, extreme sports enthusiasts keen to sample the best terrain, well-kitted observers of our unparalleled wildlife, those anxious to sample a unique culture or to visit Scotland’s first (and only) film studios and delegates to corporate events which will fill a ‘state of the art’ Inverness Conference Centre, a major economic driver – these are modern attractions that will supplement the traditional lure of Nessie, the freedom and beauty of the glens. Thanks to the re-investment that will be secured through its designation as Scotland’s first Business Improvement District, the historic core of Inverness city centre will contain a thriving mix of fashionable retail, professional service and cultural outlets. Highland food and timber products will command a market premium given their strong image of sustainable production and natural origins. Other niche activities derive from the booming alternative energy, decommissioning and waste treatment sectors where Inverness will have a clutch of world-class consultancy, research and manufacturing enterprises. Many of these companies will be established at a new Airport Business Park, (the product of a pioneering Joint Venture agreement), including modern road/bus/rail/air transport interchange and integrated freight complex which confer strategic advantage to that location. Much of this activity will also be underpinned by the fact that Inverness and the Highlands will become home to a strong group of national government agencies charged with husbanding natural resources and the environment. Modern transport and communications will no longer place obstacles to the development of local start-ups and inward investor businesses. Inverness will increasingly be a ‘home’ for enterprises which trade worldwide in virtual media, in high value bio-medical products and in the specialist expertise of knowledge-based processes.
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A connected place
To quote one observer of the Inverness scene at the turn of the century, "there is no periphery in cyberspace". Broadband capability will be a touchstone in Inverness for business expansion, e-commerce, service delivery and social interaction. Whether being fully plugged into the global economy or simply using the local learning network, the all-pervading telecoms revolution will be founded upon current ground-breaking investments. Following various programmes to enable rural exchanges, key projects will include the first City Centre local area network which will pilot real time integrated messaging for visitors and travellers, and the fibre optic cable system laid down as the infrastructure backbone for rapid new developments within the A96 Corridor. Nevertheless ‘face to face’ contacts will remain important for most folk. Facilities for travel must change out of all recognition. Public Service Obligations must be introduced on internal routes and budget airlines expanded. Cheaper seats, higher frequencies and a widening network of domestic hubs and international destinations will allow the dynamic Inverness city-region to forge new business relationships as well as strengthening political alliances in Scandinavia and the Celtic outposts of Europe’s Atlantic Arc. Local rail services will prosper with the opening of local halts which will come into their own with the introduction of commuter services, and inauguration of a new Inverness ‘through’ line rail/bus station which will open with the Eastgate 3 shopping centre by 2020. Bus patronage will increase as comfortable pollution-free vehicles travelling on dedicated lanes and shortcuts with the benefit of smart information links direct to waiting passengers will increasingly become the norm. The Executive will at last complete the dualling of the A96, whilst city traffic will flow that much more smoothly on the long overdue Southern Distributor and CrossRail links. However, vehicle penetration of the city will be much more regulated with major park n’ride schemes operating on all the major traffic arteries at East Longman, Seafield and Torvean. Freeing up most of the centre of the city for pedestrians will transform these civic spaces and redouble the associated commercial activities. Other urban realm improvements will restore continuous public access along both flanks of the river Ness and secure segregated access routes for cyclists and pedestrians which link seamlessly into the adjoining countryside as coastal footpaths, high level forestry and long distance walking routes.
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A clean place
Inverness is proud to describe itself as “the natural place to be” - its idyllic setting and location at the heart of a spectacular collection of habitats of world, European and national significance argue no less an accolade. The anticipated relocation of Scottish Natural Heritage’s headquarters to the city will help to nurture that resource foster academic research and institutional management and advance new legal frameworks as local communities, schools and businesses increase their involvement and ‘ownership’ of these outstanding heritage assets. Award-winning projects will be more common place, spanning restoration of salt marsh coastal defences, to orchid-rich native woodland regeneration and schemes to help ensure the re-establishment of large birds of prey and mammals once common across the Highlands. They will form a dramatic and inspirational backdrop to everyday life as well as an irresistible draw to hundreds of thousands of visitors contributing many £ millions to the local economy each year. Careful stewardship will allow responsible access to all but the most sensitive of sites, whilst leaving space for a widening range of outdoor pursuits closely identified with a much sought after Highland lifestyle. People will value their diverse environment as healthy, safe and stimulating - they aim to keep it ‘green’ and clean. Sustainable development will be progressed from the crude art of avoidance and mitigation to more holistic approaches concerned to work with nature and set environmental standards which could lead the world. State of the art energy conservation, waste water, recycling and pollution controls will become routine best practice not least in recognition that they are more business inducement than cost. A ground-breaking Recycling Innovation Zone serving the Highlands could evolve as a showpiece for the conversion of waste streams to products with minimal emissions and become a premier educational resource and visitor attraction.
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A cultural place
Successive waves of settlers over many thousands of years have left their monuments and artefacts across the rugged face of the Highlands. Inverness encapsulates so much of that history from Neolithic field enclosures, cairns and stone circles, to hill strongpoints, castles and towerhouses, the carnage of Culloden the last battle fought on Scottish soil, the displacement of the Clearances and great engineering works such as the Caledonian Canal. Central to Highland culture are oral and performing traditions reflected most strongly in the Gaelic language, Mod, feis and ceilidh. This distinctive heritage stands out in an increasingly homogenised world where visitors crave difference and authenticity. Inverness is becoming the home to many arts and heritage organisations dedicated to preserving and interpreting those assets, as well as being attractive to new creative and media industries which seek to capture its essence for a global market and scattered diaspora. Tourist bed nights are expected to reach new peaks in the Year of Highland Culture 2007 which will showcase the area’s indigenous cultural attractions. It could also trigger several hugely significant projects, not least a £70m. transformation of the riverside Cultural Quarter in Inverness. Built around the newly-enlarged Eden Court theatre, this complex will include a relocated City Museum and Gallery, new Geneaology Centre/Archive, Artists studios and lofts, Hotel and Conference Centre set in a pedestrian quarter which includes a new urban park based on the old Northern Meeting facilities – it could become the vibrant artistic core of the city, a celebration of cultural achievement, home to breathtaking architecture and a hugely popular draw for visitors and locals alike. The historic city centre Conservation Area which many feel is rundown in appearance and Inverness Castle (where the relocation of the law courts could make this a major icon for tourists and residents), will be the focus for major environmental enhancement schemes. Prioritised access for pedestrians, traditional street surfaces, new signage, planting and removal of eyesores will be advanced. The North Tower of the Castle could be converted to provide access for visitors, establishing a quality tourist attraction and information service truly befitting a ‘ceud mile failte’.
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A comely place
Inverness must finally break the mould of continuous peripheral expansion characterised by bland, anonymous and undistinguished suburban developments of the last century. Not before time either as the city’s rapid growth threatens to breach skylines, degrade core habitats and open spaces, over-extend its infrastructure and lines of communications. Publication of a long term ‘vision’ for the City must be the turning point. Robust masterplans must be conceived and adhered to over extended time periods. Among the fundamental changes made will be the establishment of the Green Spaces Trust, which will take on responsibility for managing the transition of farms and other landholdings into a coherent network of community open spaces/ woodlands, wildlife corridors and footpaths/bridleways around the city’s fringes and interstices. These new parks and wedges will link with and complement the previously unrivalled splendour of Inverness’ Victorian and Edwardian inheritance along the Riverside and Ness Islands. Inverness will nestle comfortably into its Great Glen setting with every resident staying within walking distance of recreational and deeper countryside activities. Enhanced quality of life will not be at the expense of population levels as it will be accompanied by denser developments, notably in the flagship regeneration projects which will proceed in the city centre and rundown or under-utilised areas such as Muirtown Basin. Intensification and mixed use will also be evident in new ‘gateway’ developments located at East Longman and Torvean which for the first time in a century will expose the amenities of seafront and canalside to new generations of visitors and residents, and provide exciting new architectural forms and landmarks to grace the city’s skyline. Of course, the pace of development will also dictate a fresh approach in the years after 2015 when stocks of building land will be nearing exhaustion. Farsighted planning and collaboration with major landowners will create six new communities strategically located along the trunk road and rail route through to Nairn. These settlements will occupy a diverse recreational and countryside mosaic bounded by major footpaths following coastline and high forest margins. Cheap and high frequency bus and train services will onnect their populations directly with high order services, cultural and entertainment complexes housed in the central areas of Inverness and Nairn. This reinforcement of roles in the ‘poles’ at each end of the corridor will be matched by a long term investment programme delivering a complete makeover of their heritage buildings and civic spaces. Pedestrians will reclaim the central area, creating an altogether more legible, exciting and contrasting series of civic spaces ranging from riverside galleria through the (new) traditional city ‘green’ of Farraline Park and greatly enlarged Station Square.
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A creative place
None of the world’s great city-regions could prosper in the absence of their colleges and universities. With the advent, establishment and then rapid consolidation of UHI the learning potential of the city and wider Highlands will blossom. From a time when ‘to get on, one got out’ was the norm for many of our most gifted young people, Inverness will rank as a highly sought-after university city attracting students from all over the globe. A similar quantum leap will occur in further education as lifelong learning gains acceptance in every strata and age group of the population. An integrated learning network will link together UHI, schools, companies, libraries and community learning centres, and provide easy access to the learning of their choice for people of all ages in every corner of the city and region. Backed by local tutors and trainers, the network will combine 21st century technology with face-to-face support for learners wherever they live. Community schools will be valued resource centres for learning, meeting, demonstrating and competing. Joint venture development of an enlarged campus in the Inverness College quarter will double the student roll through the addition of new faculties, research space, commercial activities, leisure and residences all clustered around a new city centre integrated rail and bus transport centre – ‘town and gown’ in one place. Capable of attracting the best talent, the city will occupy a virtuous circle of leading edge research, intellectual and business spin-offs, growing into thriving new enterprises keen to sponsor innovation and academic excellence.
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A cosmopolitan place
Inverness will become a vibrant, progressive and welcoming place in which to live and work. An increasingly diverse population will bring greater tolerance and an enriched community life. A bustling, chic and ‘24 hour’ city centre will create that positive first impression that keeps visitors returning and cash tills ringing. Capable of emulating the best of the new generation of ‘coming’ cities around the globe, the citizens of Inverness will be ambassadors for a wealthier and more sophisticated place. Its distinctive assets of a unique culture, exceptional clean environment, adaptable well-educated workforce and booming economy will underpin a personal quality of life and level of community wellbeing comparable with anywhere in Northern Europe.
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A caring place
Galvanised by the 2001 Census findings which showed that the city contained the eighth most-deprived neighbourhood in Scotland, the strategic Wellbeing Alliance partnership must redouble its efforts to lift those trapped in socially excluded groups and localities of disadvantage. In past decades we boasted about the high quality of life in Highland, but for some people the reality was very different - inadequate housing, poor health and social isolation. The city of the future has no choice but to be inclusive. Without programmes to ensure a supply of affordable housing, secure jobs with decent wages, and equality of access to education, health and leisure services, significant numbers of people and successive generations will live disengaged from mainstream society, hostile to its institutions and symbols. The city’s growing prosperity must help to reduce both poor health and social exclusion. Inequalities in health will be tackled and barriers to choosing a healthy life-style will be lowered, through better access to sports facilities and leisure opportunities, to high quality local food and to individual advice and guidance. More land will be made available for new, affordable, energy-efficient housing and sub-standard stock upgraded, enabling young and old to stay on in their homes within the city. As elsewhere, in Inverness the best results will come from harnessing the Executive’s priorities and programmes via local delivery groups using the appetite for betterment and native talent of the communities themselves.
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A confident place
The Inverness city-region will fully emerge from the shadow of its central belt counterparts – less a direct rival than proud of its unique role as capital of the Gaidhealtachd and growing contribution to Scotland plc. The city will set new standards in civic leadership, with the public agencies, business community and a sturdy voluntary sector united in realising its mission as ‘the Capital City at the Heart of the Highlands’
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The Community Plan and Structure Plan set out a common vision of a confident, prosperous, healthy and safe Highlands. The Inverness Local Plan provides the detailed development strategy for the City, identifying the key opportunities and infrastructure needs for the creation of a flourishing and sustainable city-region. The challenge for the Partnership is to focus our energies and resources on those issues and places where we can most ‘make a difference’. Six themes encapsulate our development programme:
City Centre Renaissance (CR)
Creation of a thriving, safe and liveable city centre.
A Sustainable City (SC)
A place where people can live, work and study in a quality environment, now and in the future.
The Gateway to the Highlands (HG)
Developing a modern transport infrastructure as a basis for future prosperity.
Cultural Capital (CC)
A burgeoning and authentic European city set in Europe’s most dramatic scenery.
The Learning City (LC)
Ensuring that our citizens have access to the best educational facilities.
The Expanding City (EC)
Creating a new sustainable living environment for the future along the A96 Corridor.
We aim in the programme to transform both the physical fabric and quality of life by actively involving all our citizens in the changes that affect them, particularly those in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and groups. Delivering such an ambitious programme for change will require time, new ways of thinking and innovative funding solutions.
The City Partnership recognises that the Vision set out above will take a number of years to implement. Several projects are already underway, others can be achieved relatively quickly, but many can only be developed in the medium to long term.
Short Term
| THEME |
PROJECT |
| CR |
Improvements to the city centre public realm |
| SC |
Innovative solutions to Affordable Housing |
| SC |
New Voluntary sector offices/resource centre |
| SC |
Continue development of the Merkinch SIP |
| HG |
New Distributor Road from A96 to the Airport |
| LC |
Continue Community Schools Initiative |
| CC |
Expansion of the Eden Court |
| CC |
Support Year of Highland Culture |
Medium Term
| THEME |
PROJECT |
| CR |
Development of a pedestrian priority centre |
| CR |
Improved visitor information |
| CR |
Environmental improvements along the riverside |
| CR |
Pilot a Business Improvement District Scheme |
| SC |
Establishment of a Green Spaces Trust |
| SC |
Innovative solutions to Affordable Housing |
| SC |
Waste management scheme for city centre |
| HG |
Construction of the Cross Rail Road link |
| HG |
New Airport Business Park / Freight Village |
Longer Term
| THEME |
PROJECT |
| CR |
Creation of a modern transport interchange |
| CR |
Development of Eastgate 3 |
| SC |
Improved sports infrastructure |
| SC |
Creation of a country park at East Longman |
| HG |
Completion of the Southern Distributor Road |
| HG |
New rail halt at Dalcross |
| HG |
Development of East Longman |
| HG |
New gateway visitor facilities |
| CC |
Creation of a new riverside Cultural Quarter |
| CC |
Creation of a visitor facility at the Castle |
| CC |
Development of an Archive and Genealogy centre |
| CC |
New Art Gallery and Museum |
| LC |
Expansion of Inverness College |
| EC |
Development of new communities on the A96 |
The City Growth Fund Programme set out below is designed to implement several short term projects and help kick start a number of the medium terms projects.
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Further to local discussions about spending priorities, the Partnership proposes the following distribution of the £3.1m Cities Growth Fund monies allocated to Inverness:
- £500k each on four benchmark projects which will make a real difference to the appearance and functionality of the City.
- £100k each as contributions to eight key partner projects which will reinforce the diverse roles and capital status of Inverness.
- £300k to be deployed for vital feasibility studies, masterplanning and marketing/publicity to promote outreach, dialogue and implementation of the Vision.
The City Partnership will work with its Partners in the Wellbeing Alliance to secure match funding as the projects are further developed.
| Project |
Vision Themes |
Lead Partner |
City Growth Funding |
Spend 2003/4 |
Spend 2004/5 |
Spend 2005/6 |
| Upgrading of public domain around the Castle Motte and Riverside. |
CR
SC
CC |
THC |
£500k |
£50k |
£200k |
£250k |
| Wired City – New city centre ‘real time’ public info system & broadband in social housing. |
CR
HG
CC
EC |
INE/THC |
£500k |
£50k |
£150k |
£300k |
| Streetscape Imps. in Castle Brae High St. West and Castle North Tower. |
CR
SC
HG
CC |
THC |
£500k |
£50k |
£250k |
£200k |
| Waste Management scheme for the City Centre and devt. of a Recycling Innovation Zone. |
CR
SC
LC
EC |
THC/INE |
£500k |
£100k |
£150k |
£250k |
| Development of new UHI Executive office on riverside at RNI. |
CR
CC
LC |
UHI |
£100k |
£50k |
£50k |
£0k |
| Support for the Merkinch (Social Inclusion Partnership) Project. |
SC
LC |
THC |
£100k |
£20k |
£40k |
£40k |
| Project |
Vision Themes |
Lead Partner |
City Growth Funding |
Spend 2003/4 |
Spend 2004/5 |
Spend 2005/6 |
| Combined Voluntary Sector Resource Centre/Offices. |
CR
LC |
SCVO |
£100k |
£0k |
£100k |
£0k |
| Pilot City Centre BID Business Improvement District scheme. |
CR
SC
CC |
THC/ICCM |
£100k |
£0k |
£50k |
£50k |
| Demonstration City Centre Vacant Block housing conversion, incl. affordable units. |
CR
SC
CC |
THC/CS/ICCM |
£100k |
£20k |
£40k |
£40k |
| Form Community Trust to assemble, enhance and manage the city’s Green buffers, wedges and rural setting. |
SC
CC
EC |
SCVO/THC/SNH |
£100k |
£40k |
£40k |
£20k |
| Support for further development of Commuter Rail services linking Inverness and the wider sub-region. |
CR
SC
HG
EC |
Hi-Trans |
£100k |
£100k |
£0k |
£0k |
| Feasibility/design studies for Eden Court, regional Genealogy /Archive Centre, new City Museum/Gallery & Community Arts Centre. |
CR
CC
LC |
THC/INE |
£100k |
£50k |
£50k |
£0k |
| Establish City Project office as focus for implementation, consultation outreach and marketing work. |
CR
SC
HG |
THC/INE |
£100k |
£50k |
£30k |
£20k |
| Strategic Transport & Traffic Studies for the City, A96 Corridor & sub-region using TRANUS/other models. |
CR
SC
EC |
Hi-Trans |
£100k |
£70k |
£30k |
£0k |
| Commission comprehensive design Masterplans for key City regeneration & expansion ‘hotspots’. |
CR
SC
CC
LC
EC |
THC |
£100k |
£20k |
£40k |
£40k |
| TOTALS |
all |
|
£3.10m |
£0.67k |
£1.22m |
£1.21k |
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