HIGHLAND Council has been urged to go back to the drawing board amid mounting public opposition to plans for new homes on the site of a former agricultural show.
But despite scores of people calling for protection of “amenity land” in the Nairn area, planners are pressing ahead with proposals to zone swathes of much-loved green space for housing.
The Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan indicates where 17,000 homes and 11,000 jobs will be created, including communities stretching from Tain and Invergordon to Tomatin and Drumnadrochit.
About 1,500 individuals and organisations responded to a consultation at the end of last year and planners have now finished analysing their comments.
Councillors will be asked to take the next step towards official adoption of the masterplan, which lists sites for housing, business and amenities to be developed over the next 20 years.
It includes plans to rezone the former Nairn Showfield for housing, as well as a popular woodland on the hills above Inverness – proposals that members of the public want dropped from the plan.
While Nairn Show moved out to a new site on the eastern edges of the town in 2008, the original showfield is well used for entertainment and sporting events.
Planners have now said that about 30 houses could be built on the south end of the field, with a football pitch created closer to the A96 Inverness-Aberdeen road. People who wrote to the council objected to the loss of green space and raised fears about the increased traffic.
One of the objectors, Kathryn Sanderson, of the Woodville Owners Association, said: “The field is a public amenity which should not be sacrificed to becoming a residential development.”
Yesterday, Dick Youngson, of Nairn Suburban Community Council, said: “The showfield is an important green area.
“It is very important that we preserve a lot of green spaces and we need to think carefully before we pass these areas as development sites.”
And Rosemary Young, of Nairn West Community Council, said her group felt a small number of houses could be accommodated without compromising the whole of the field.
She added: “I think it is contentious issue. The field is a historical part of Nairn.”
Nairn Farming Society, which owns the showfield, declined to comment yesterday.
To the south of Inverness, a 50-acre site at Bogbain Wood, beside Milton of Leys, is earmarked for mixed use, including about 75 houses.
Objectors have also raised concerns about the loss of amenity and wildlife habitat.
However, Tulloch Homes, which has been lead developer for the Milton of Leys area, supported the council’s allocation and requested that the 75-house cap should be lifted as it believed more housing could be built there.
The planning, development and infrastructure committee will meet on Thursday to decide on referring the plan to the Scottish Government for scrutiny.
Committee chairman Thomas Prag said: “It is understandable that some people in Nairn want to protect the site.
“Green space and walking areas are increasingly important to the community.
“I hope that we have recognised that in the draft plan.”