The £300,000 cost of a publicly funded riverside “tilting pier” could be recouped by Inverness within two years through increased visitor numbers, according to an economic impact assessment.
The estimate provides powerful ammunition for Highland Council which is itself split over the merits of such an expense at a time of budgetary crisis.
Some councillors have condemned the cost of the proposed installation. Others are actively promoting it as a remarkable concept that would attract huge numbers of visitors.
The feature of a riverside space branded as “The Gathering Place” is part of a wider £760,000 council arts project that has been the focus of a public consultation on an exhibition which is on display at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery until February 27.
The wood-built construction would reach out part-way across the river at Friar’s Shott.
Answers gleaned from a Press and Journal Freedom of Information request reveal that the pier alone might create an annual windfall of £150,000 for local businesses through extra visitor numbers and their spend in the city.
The latest art projects were commissioned by the council’s Inverness City Arts working group.
Its chairman, SNP councillor Ken Gowans, said: “We have to acknowledge that any economic impact assessment is based on assumptions, but it’s obviously got huge potential and that’s something we very much welcome.
“That would be an added benefit, it wasn’t the primary reason for the project.”
Local councillor Donnie Kerr called a meeting of colleagues yesterday afternoon (THURS) at the preferred site for the pier, to gauge their thinking about the choice of location.
“We haven’t been kept in the picture and we’ve had a hell of a lot of feedback from the public at this time, when there is, shall we say, a shortage of funds,” he said.
City colleague Janet Campbell also has her doubts.
She said: “I’m not sure that this should be within a compact, green space in a residential area. Nearby residents have great concerns about this. They feel their privacy could be compromised. I have concerns about the impact this platform would have on the river vista.
“We’ve got to listen to the public.”
Inverness city manager David Haas said: “We’re taking every step to ensure that councillors have the best advice and that the projects are taken forward are done so in a very open and transparent way, as asked for by councillors.”