What next for Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal?

19th December 2018

Highland Councillors are looking forward beyond the current Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal and asking: "What next and where?".

Following publication of the Deal's annual report, Leader of The Highland Council Cllr Margaret Davidson said: "A meeting will be convened in the New Year with Councillors who have a particular interest in the City-Region Deal to talk about where we can go next and what we can do.".

At the meeting of The Highland Council (on 13 December) Councillors approved the publication of the Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal Annual Report on the Council's website at https://www.highland.gov.uk/cityregiondeal

The report details the region-wide geographic spread and additionality created by projects in the Inverness and Highland City-Region showing the spread of projects across the region.

Stuart Black, Director of Development and Infrastructure explained: "The expenditure in the report is shown up to March 2018 and I am pleased to say that spending has increased over the period since then and we have now spent in the order of £5m across the City-Region deal."

He added: “In addition to the digital project in the City-Region Deal we have also gained £4.2m of local full fibre network funding for Inverness, Fort William, Wick and Thurso for ultra-fast network in those communities which is in addition to the City-Region Deal. This is a very good example of a project that has been built out of this partnership for the City-Region Deal.”

Highland Council Leader, Cllr Margaret Davidson thanked the Programme Manager for the City-Region Deal, John Robertson for his work on the programme and said:

“We are doing a very good job here in Highland on the City-Region Deal; we are achieving and making excellent progress indeed. We are building on the Wi-Fi project that we have been putting in to 14 towns and villages right across the Highlands. We are the only Council in Scotland that was awarded funding for ultra-fast broadband and we'll have it in Inverness, Fort William, Wick and Thurso. This is going to provide astonishing benefits to our University, colleges and our businesses. It really is a potential economic booster. In addition the City-region deal is funding affordable housing right across the Highlands including sites in Inverness, Drumnadrochit and Ullapool.”