The latest phase of an ambitious £500million plan to create a new town centre on the outskirts of Inverness was unveiled to the public yesterday.
The development of a community at Stratton, off the A96 near to Inverness Retail Park, aims to link with Culloden, Smithton and Balloch.
The Highland Council proposal for 150 new houses, along with public amenity space, on land east of Barn Church Road in Smithton was presented at a public consultation event yesterday.
The site has space for a new primary school, but proposals for that are not yet in place.
Housebuilder Barratt Homes has already been given the green light to construct 400 properties on adjacent land.
The overall Stratton development will involve around £500m of investment and the construction of almost 2,500 new homes, to be built in phases over a number of years.
Rory Kellett, director of Threesixty Architecture, which designed the latest scheme, said they were hoping to get the public’s views prior to submitting a formal planning application in March. If approved, construction could begin early next year.
He added: “This is the next phase in this huge development.
“One main feature of this scheme is the amount of green space being provided, along with pedestrian and cycle connections.
“Our intention is to make the streets an attractive place that people want to live, rather than the normal run-of-the-mill housing development.
“Highland Council is proposing to put a range of properties on the site, from flats to four-bedroom detached houses.
“There is also a high percentage of properties with wheelchair access, including eight bungalows and six flats.
“Also, around 66% of the homes are to be affordable housing.”
Mr Kellett said that, while the overall Stratton development would link with Culloden, Smithton and Balloch, the long-term view was to keep each community distinct from each other.
The Stratton site will create up to 1,000 permanent jobs, in addition to 1,200 temporary construction jobs.
The first 550 homes being built will retain the key characteristics of architecture in the region.
At least a quarter of these are designed to help meet Highland Council’s affordable housing targets.
Stratton is the latest development along the A96 corridor between Inverness and Nairn.