Highland Council has recommended councillors grant planning permission for a whisky maturation and storage facility in Invergordon.
Council planners say the new facility will safeguard Whyte & Mackay as a major local employer and improve a derelict site.
Whyte & Mackay already operates a distillery in Invergordon, and is now seeking permission for a warehouse complex close by.
The distiller wants to build 42 maturation warehouses comprising 121 storage cells, along with a new security gatehouse and office.
The site is a 48-hectare area of farm land next to Cromarty Firth industrial park. The industrial park lies to the east, while the north of the site is bounded by the ‘big ditch’.
If agreed, the whisky warehouses will feature metal wall and roof cladding in grey and green. The complex will be surrounded by security fencing and will also include a firefighting plant and forklift sheds.
According to the planning report, Whyte & Mackay has a “comprehensive” landscaping plan, including woodland, scrub and meadow planting.
Highland Council officers have recommended the application for approval at this week’s north planning applications committee.
Concerns over VOCs
However, it’s not without controversy. There is one objection against developing a greenfield site, and Invergordon community council has raised concern about VOC emissions.
The community council took their concerns to Sepa, but the environment agency has not itself raised any objection.
Highland Council acknowledged the potential environmental impact of the development, but highlighted that environmental health, Sepa and NatureScot are all happy with the application.
The council said landscaping will soften the visual impact of the development, and pointed out that there’s already industrial development in the area.
They expect any extra traffic to mostly come from the existing Whyte & Mackay site on Academy Road, and feel the benefits of the new development outweigh the negatives.
North planning committee will decide whether to grant planning permission at its meeting on 19 April. If it gets the green light, Whyte & Mackay intend to build the Invergordon warehouses in five phases, only completing the whole development in 2077.
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