The Draft Inverness East Development Brief sets out plans for developers to deliver up to 3,000 new private and affordable homes and a suite of community and employment uses that will now be published for public consultation.

In addition, the Inverness City Development Brief will now be referred to Scottish Ministers for formal adoption and then taken forward as part of the council’s Development Plan. This will replace the existing Inverness City Centre Development Brief adopted in March 2013.

Provost and leader of Inverness and area, Councillor Helen Carmichael, said: “Councillors welcome these major steps forward which support the Council’s Programme priorities under ‘A Place to Live’ to provide affordable homes and development opportunities that promote resilient and attractive communities while regenerating our city.”

She added: “I would like to thank everyone for their interest in the Draft Inverness East Development Brief and in particular to the young people at Inverness College and Culloden Youth Forum who have contributed to the preparation of this exciting master plan. I would urge anyone with an interest to keep an eye out for the public consultation in the New Year. This will be promoted in due course and published online.”

Describing the Inverness East Development Brief, Scott Dalgarno, Highland Council’s development plans manager, said: “Inverness East is the next major urban expansion of the city, and it is important that it is developed in a way that works for existing and new communities. We have involved local communities from an early stage to develop a Brief that prioritises walking; cycling and public transport and promotes creating great places to live, work and visit.

“Existing landscape features are incorporated into an ambitious master plan that identifies new facilities such as a district park, sports facilities at Inverness Campus, a new urban centre, two new primary schools and a high school, and high quality walking and cycling connections in addition to the proposed East Link road.”