MULTIMILLION-POUND plans to create a new student quarter in the centre of Inverness were kicked out by councillors yesterday, sparking an angry reaction from the developer.
Inverness Properties director David Cameron accused the council last night of wasting his firm’s time and vowed not to resubmit the plans.
The £24million vision for a Rose Street student quarter included accommodation for 379 students in four blocks of flats. The development was to be targeted at the influx of scholars attending the new Inverness Campus, which is due to open at Beechwood next summer.
The project, which was expected to create 300 construction jobs and help regenerate the city centre, included a public square linking Farraline Park with Academy Street.
But members of Highland Council’s south planning committee unanimously rejected the scheme, claiming it was too big and badly designed.
Mr Cameron said outside the meeting: “We followed exactly the brief that was given to us by the council and passed by the council. There obviously has been a change of mind here. The council promised there would be student accommodation in the city. They are now changing their mind and going with the accommodation at the campus. What they’ve really done is wasted a lot of our time and we won’t be back.”
Plans were approved last year for a 105-bedroom, six-storey block, but proposals for another three blocks – one of up to eight storeys – were scuppered yesterday.
Planning officials had recommended approval but councillors unanimously backed a motion for refusal from councillors Richard Laird and Thomas Prag, both Inverness.
The motion stated that the flat plans were of an “unacceptable scale, height, massing and design”, with “inadequate and overshadowed” civic space.
Mr Laird was concerned that since the accommodation could be used only by students, the eight-storey block of flats – the tallest building in the city centre – could be left empty if they did not move in.
He said the planned public square would be overshadowed by the flats, creating a “dark piece of concrete”.
Mr Laird added: “I dread to think what will end up happening in an area like this given what we have seen in other parts of Scotland where parts of open space are surrounded by tower blocks.
“I’m content with the principle of a student hub. I simply think this is too big, too dark and the civic space will be overshadowed by the buildings.”
Mr Prag echoed his views and said the development was not “high-quality design”. He said: “The whole thing doesn’t feel like it’s been thought about as a place to live.”
Badenoch and Strathspey councillor Bill Lobban said the developer had been given numerous chances to amend the application.
He said: “I don’t know how we can approve this proposal. There’s been no clear indication from the University of the Highlands and Islands that there is a complete tie-up with the numbers needed for student accommodation and the numbers proposed here.
“I’d hate to think we’re being bounced into a completely unacceptable design just because it’s for student accommodation.”
Inverness Properties later released a further statement saying it was disappointed with the planning committee’s decision, which went against the recommendation for approval from the planning department.
The firm saw the decision as a lost opportunity for “significant private-sector investment in the city centre”. It said it was now considering its position over the site.