Work begun this week on a £200,000 package of village centre improvements in Inverlochy.

The Highland Council has appointed Breedon Aggregates as contractors to implement the upgrading works, which will last for up to 20 weeks. The project includes primarily hard landscaping and is funded from The Highland Council Planning and Development Service Capital Programme.

Pedestrian access will be maintained to all shops, during trading hours, for the duration of the project and the contractor will liaise directly with proprietors in order to minimise disruption.

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Local Councillor Brian Murphy, Vice Chairman of the Council's Transport Environmental and Community Services Committee, said: "I am pleased to see these improvements going ahead. Inverlochy, with its tree lined avenues radiating out from a central shopping area, was heavily influenced in its design by the ‘garden city’ movement which was very popular in the 1920s and '30s.

"A people friendly layout which was away ahead of its time and which is why ‘the village’ is still a favourite area for first time buyers and for old Inverlochyites alike. In the 1980s, the former Highland Regional Council planners were quite keen to designate it as a conservation area but couldn't get support for the idea. However, the work which the council is carrying out will improve and enhance the environment making it fit for the 21st century, and ensure that it continues to be a pleasant place to live."

(CD)