The clock is ticking for plans to bring a badly needed all-weather sports pitch to Inverness Campus.
A £1.3m project to build the 3G pitch was approved by Highland Council’s own planners in May 2023.
But it emerged last year that the project was paused because building it will cost much more than initially thought.
20 months on, no work has taken place at the site.
The planning permission is due to expire on May 9, meaning that unless work begins at the site in the next four months the whole project will be going back to the drawing board.
Inverness Campus pitch plan ‘significantly’ above budget
The plan was for the pitch to be lined with markings for rugby, full size and short-sided football.
It would have occupied a space close to UHI Inverness, just along from the Scottish Vet Referrals building.
Offers were received from contractors to complete the work.
But according to the council, they were “significantly above the available budget”.
It prompted a review into the scope of the project, so a decision could be made on what happens next.
In October, a council spokeswoman said: “The review is still underway, and no formal final decision has been made on the campus facilities.”
No further update has been provided since.
‘We just want somewhere to play’
Inverness Craig Dunain rugby club was banking on the new pitch after years of struggling to secure a permanent place to play.
The club has had to postpone fixtures because of the lack of available pitches and its players train on a field at the Merkinch nature reserve.
“We don’t need much,” said club president Richard Keel. “We just want somewhere we can play, get changed and store some equipment.
“It’s a demoralising situation for the club. We want a home, we want to play rugby. ”
Inverness councillor Ken Gowans has been calling for investment in sports facilities for the east side of the city for years.
He said: “It’s disappointing but we don’t have the funding package in place for it. So at the moment it won’t be progressing.
The future of Inverness Campus
It hasn’t all been bad news for sport facilities on the east side of Inverness in the past few months.
Two new all-weather pitches have opened at Culloden Academy and are available to be booked through High Life Highland.
Demand has been high so far, illustrating how much the city’s been crying out for more places to play sport.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise is hoping to develop phase two of Inverness Campus and is currently asking the public for views on its plans.
A hotel and a huge amount of “commercial space” are among the proposals.
It is hoped that new sport facilities will form part of the development.
But much of the construction will have to wait until the A9-A96 Link Road is built.
That project currently has no expected construction date.
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