Pressure has intensified on Scottish Water to scrap plans for upgrading a Highland village sewage works and build a new one elsewhere.
A group of MSPs has backed a community campaign to halt controversial plans for revamping the existing facility on the edge of Ardersier.
Scottish Water insist it is required to accommodate increased demand from new development in the surrounding countryside.
But Conservatives Ed Mountain, Douglas Ross and Donald Cameron yesterday added their voices to the long-running campaign to halt the process and seek an alternative solution.
Mr Mountain agrees with many residents that a new sewage works should be built further east along the firth, possibly at the vacant former fabrication yard at Whiteness, to serve the Tornagrain new town and other local development.
He said: “We could be making a huge mistake. Now is the time to stay stop.
“There’s sufficient apprehension and alarm regarding the project to ask the Highland Council to call a halt at this stage and look again at the options.”
Mr Mountain has written to all Highland MSPs asking them to back his call for a review.
“I was in the village the other day and the smell from the existing plant was disgusting, as it was at the nearby Alturlie Point treatment works,” he said.
A spokesman for Scottish Water said: “We have an existing water treatment works outside the village and have plans to upgrade this for two reasons – to improve water quality and to maintain resilient services for strategic development within the A96 corridor.
“We’ll continue to liaise with customers and thank them for their patience.”
Jenny Maylin, chairwoman of the Against Ardersier Waste Treatment Plant campaign, said: “It’s good to see our MSPs are finally rallying round us. We’ve been asking for a halt for a considerable amount of time and we’ve managed to do that, but to have a complete halt to revise the plans would be really good.”
The development has had planning permission for several years, but it is due to expire in January.
Councillors last month (AUG) delayed the process by insisting on an Ardersier site visit to consider the utility’s proposed installation of new specialist equipment as part of its proposed upgrade.