YOUR VIEWS: Free Inverness bus travel, grants relief for Highland businesses and city homes plans
Free bus travel is a welcome reward for passengers
Hats off to both Stagecoach and Highland Council for providing free buses this week.
It’s also excellent to see Stagecoach being able to run a full service – a long time coming too. Thus, a welcome reward for long-suffering passengers.
James Rorison
Skye Court
Inverness
Government should grant rates relief for businesses
On Wednesday the Chancellor in his Autumn statement announced that the current 75 per cent relief on business rates for premises in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector within England would be extended for another year from April.
Tourism is the mainstay of the Highland economy, and us participants are seeing massive increases in energy, food and wage costs.
The Scottish Government has not previously granted an equivalent rates relief, it is essential they do so now. Hotels, restaurants, and shops all across the Highlands are really suffering, it seems that every second pub or hotel is for sale and our high streets are littered with empty shops.
Why should us Scottish business owners be disadvantaged?
Angus MacDonald
Highland councillor, and owner of The Highland Cinema
Homes plan moves to the next stage
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Proposals by Roberston Homes to build 380 more homes in the Westercraigs area of Inverness made progress last week as a scoping application was nodded through by Highland Council’s south planning committee. It paves the way for a full application to be submitted.
“Why can’t this area be deemed a nature reserve like Merkinch? I walk this area twice a day and see on a daily/regular basis: deer, badgers, heron, ducks, red kite, buzzards, grouse, lots of different bird species and pine martin.” – Andrea Sinclair Robertson
“Another Inverness development…yet another traffic issue. How do they propose accommodating all the extra traffic that extensive development in this area is creating? There appear to be just two routes in and out.” – Charles Bannerman
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