A senior councillor has said that “impressive” plans for a new justice centre should accelerate efforts to find a use for the former Inverness College headquarters next door.
Highland Council leader Margaret Davidson said it would be better if the empty Longman Road campus “wasn’t there” – and suggested the local authority could try to make use of the site.
She made the remarks as she viewed the plans for a £23million justice centre, which has been earmarked for a site at the former Stagecoach depot, between Burnett Road and Longman Road.
The 1960s-built Longman Road campus of Inverness College has been lying empty since a new £50million facility at Beechwood opened a year ago.
The Press and Journal reported last month that a number of parties have registered interest in the site, although no final decision had been taken.
Ms Davidson suggested the site should be developed at the same time as the building of the justice centre.
She said the plans for the court complex were “impressive” but added: “It would be good if the college building wasn’t there at the same time, and we had a clear idea of what we were doing there.
“It would be good to do the lot as a oner. We certainly need to be thinking about the future of that site, if we’re going to get a brand new criminal justice centre, which is great.
“I think what I need to do first is ask the guys in planning if they have had any approaches, what is on the go, and then, have we any interest as a council in things we would like to use that site for.”
Asked if she was referring to utilising the building or the site, she said: “You never know but probably the site – it’s a bit of a lump.”
Mrs Davidson also called for a group to be established to develop the justice centre plans.
“The idea of bringing in, if we can manage it, criminal justice social work, so you are talking to the guys who are doing community payback, maybe even the children’s hearing system, if the reporter is interested.
“We need the NHS over there, they’ve got a locus around all of this. There has never been a better chance to do things in a more integrated way.
“We need a stakeholders group who will discuss all the various elements, what’s achievable.”