Inverness riverside installation given go-ahead

Councillors have voted in favour of going ahead with a controversial riverside arts installation.

Curving walls have been proposed for opposite banks of the River Ness in Inverness.

The project, a replacement for a controversial plan for a £300,000 giant see-saw-like installation, is opposed by a local campaign.

Highland Council had suspended work on the new £240,000 installation to allow for a fresh debate on the project.

The local authority's City of Inverness committee voted in favour of progressing with it at a special meeting on Tuesday.

Called My Ness, the new design was approved by officials under delegated powers and emerged following a councillors' vote in July 2016 not to proceed with the see-saw-like The Gathering Place.

Concerns were raised by some councillors and members of the public about the safety of the original design, a pier which would have gently tilted up and down.

Opponents of the new design believe it will spoil the landscape of the riverside.

The riverside project is funded by £305,000 from Creative Scotland, £250,000 from the City of Inverness Common Good Fund, £66,000 from Highlands and Islands Enterprise and £106,000 from Highland Council.

It is managed by the Inverness City Arts Working Group on the council's behalf.