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'Inverness is being held back by being part of Highland Council' says business leader





Stewart Nicol, chief executive of Inverness Chamber of Commerce says that Inverness needs a mayor. Picture: Gary Anthony
Stewart Nicol, chief executive of Inverness Chamber of Commerce says that Inverness needs a mayor. Picture: Gary Anthony

Inverness is being held back by being part of Highland Council and it needs a mayor with a clear focus to help it flourish.

That is the view of Inverness Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stewart Nicol, who pointed to Aberdeen drafting in a former chief executive of an oil company to spearhead a campaign to revive its main street.

“Inverness needs a mayor – someone from business who will take charge of the transformation of the city,” Mr Nicol said.

“We need a strong individual who will look at how we can transform the city and have a sharp focus on reinvigorating Inverness. That someone can then be held accountable and be able to drive a vision forward. We need someone who will look at how we are operating as a destination and the impact we have on tourists.”

The business leader said he thinks Inverness would be able to grow more if it had an autonomous city council, due to its different opportunities compared to the rest of the region. However, he offered no explanation to how this would be done.

Mr Nicol explained: “Inverness has so much going for it, and it would be good if we had more freedom to focus on how to develop the city. We are at the start and finish of the NC500 and I just feel that we are held back by not having the resources and finances of an autonomous local authority. That’s not to say that other parts of Highland Council aren’t losing out too, but we need to get the balance right of how things are spent and what is invested in, and I don’t think that balance is right just now.”

Mr Nicol also addressed the economic challenges faced by the city, saying: “We have two publicly funded bodies trying to address economic transformation – Highland Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).”

“That money should be with one body. It should sit with HIE not with the council, as they already have enough to do.”

However, the council’s Inverness leader Ian Brown was unsure how the local authority could be dismantled.

“There have been lots of conversations going on for years about breaking up Highland Council,” he said.

“But it is a question of who would pay for this, and how it would be done. Would you have a Dingwall Council and a Skye Council too?

“I am sitting on the fence personally, as Inverness only has 23 councillors so we can be outvoted if there is a matter of concern for Inverness.

“But councillors do tend to work together and Inverness has an incredible Common Good Fund.”

Scott Murray, owner of Cru Holdings which has several businesses in Inverness expressed a similar sentiment to Mr Nicol, saying there is a need for an independent group of stakeholders who can work with the council to see what Inverness residents want to happen.

He said: “In the last five years, the things that Highland Council have done have been so polarising, and nobody feels like they are being listened to.”

However, unlike Mr Nicol he didn’t feel like having a mayor would be the solution.

Scott Murray. Picture: Callum Mackay
Scott Murray. Picture: Callum Mackay

Mr Murray added: "We need relatable people from a cross-section of the city, not just business. People have different motivations so we need to make sure that they are all listened to and represented. The key is coming up with a compromise.

"The problem we have at the moment is that people are trying to have conversations about projects such as Academy Street, but no one from Highland Council wants to have it, which is worrying."

Highland Council was contacted for comment.


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