A masterplan which outlines where 17,000 homes and 11,000 jobs will be created in the Highlands has been approved by councillors.
The Inner Moray Firth Development Plan was put before the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Committee yesterday.
The plan affects land and communities stretching from Nairn in the east to Tain in north and Drumnadrochit in the south.
About 1,300 comments were made on the plan by more than 700 individuals and organisations responded in a six week consultation at the end of last year and planners have now finished analysing their comments.
It lists sites for housing, business and amenities to be developed over the next 20 years.
A number of the proposals have proved controversial, including plans for a new housing development south of Nairn, with 30 houses proposed for a site which used to host the town’s agricultural land.
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.
However, proposals to build a further 410 house development south of Nairn have been dropped due to concerns over access from the A96.
People who wrote to the council objected to the loss of green space and raised fears about the increased traffic.
Plans for a controversial housing development built by Tulloch Homes south of Inverness at Bogbain Woods is also included in the scheme.
A cap of 75 houses has been placed on the site, while the area has also been cut by nearly half in a bit to save wetlands in the area.
Milton of Leys residents have campaigned to save the woods, which are popular among walkers and runners.
The plan states that land will be provided for 18,350 homes until 2031.
It shows that about 10,200 of the houses would be in the Inverness area, about 5,100 in Ross-shire and about 1,700 in Nairn, with a smaller level of development in Badenoch and Strathspey.
About 5,500 of the new jobs would be in Ross-shire, about 4,400 in Inverness-shire and approximately 1,100 in Nairn.
Committee chairman Councillor Thomas Prag said: “This has been a considerable effort by the planning team, not only going collecting all the comments but going through them and making sense of them in a way which is very readable and understandable.”
The plan will now be sent on to the Scottish Government for further approval.