Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Inverness playpark still for sale after auction proves to be a bust

Only two bids were made for the land in Culloden - but neither met the minimum price the seller is willing to accept.

The playpark has so far failed to attract a buyer. Image: DC Thomson
The playpark has so far failed to attract a buyer. Image: DC Thomson

An Inverness playpark remains up for a sale after it failed to find a buyer at auction.

The green space in Moray Park Gardens, Culloden went under the hammer on Thursday.

It was one of more than 140 properties put up for grabs by Glasgow-based firm Prime Property Auctions.

Owner Ibrahim Mohammed was hoping to make a tidy profit on the parcel of land he bought for £15,000 in 2019.

But the playpark fetched only two bids – one for £35,000 and another for £36,000.

Those amounts were under the reserve price – the minimum it could be sold for – so no sale was completed.

Listing could ‘mislead’ potential buyers

The park was constructed in the early 2000s.

It was well used by families in the area back then.

But now it’s in a sorry state. The area is badly overgrown, the play equipment is rusty and broken glass is scattered across the playground.

The surrounding houses were built by Muir Homes but the adjacent amenity land has been sold off in small pockets to a number of different owners.

Glass strewn on the ground at playpark at Moray Park Gardens, Culloden, Inverness.
Glass strewn on the ground at the playpark. Image: DC Thomson

It has been listed with a guide price of £40,000 – £25,000 higher than it was bought for five years ago despite the area’s deterioration.

The listing references the sale prices of nearby houses on Moray Park Gardens.

Last week, Highland Council’s principal planner Tim Stott told the Press and Journal this could “mislead” potential purchasers.

That’s because there is no planning permission for housing on the land.

Culloden community would challenge any housing plan

Any potential new owner would likely face a strong local challenge if they did try to clear the park and build houses on the plot.

A previous application to build a house on green space on nearby Moray Park Wynd created a bit of controversy locally earlier this year.

It was ultimately rejected by the council for a variety of reasons. One was that it would result in the loss of an amenity space.

Culloden Community Council would oppose any move to build any homes on the playpark plot.

The group’s chairwoman Catherine Bunn said: “The local community will always challenge any planning that takes away vital amenities and green belt in this area.”

For more Inverness news and updates, join our local Facebook group.

Conversation