The Highland Council has set aside £242m over the next three financial years, reinforcing its commitment to the Highland economy.

The key building projects set to benefit by the programme are schools and roads as well as improvements to offices and harbours.

This budget is in addition to a revenue spending of £548m in 2013-14 and a further spending of £43m on building new council houses, council house improvements and repairs and maintenance.

Councillor Drew Hendry described the ambitious scheme as a huge boost for the Highlands, as it would provide some much-needed construction work at a challenging time for the industry.

He said: "Despite real pressures on public spending, I am delighted that we are able to provide such a significant programme of spending on building projects over the coming three years.

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"This is great news for the construction industry and will help the economies of many of our Highland communities."

Eight projects are expected to benefit from the additional spending allocation from the Scottish Government as they are "shovel ready" and can be delivered by April 2014.

In Inverness, £700k has been allocated to help fund 24 starter business units on Council-owned services sites in Harbour Road and the Carse Industrial Estate.

At Fort William, an allocation of £540k will assist in the redevelopment of Cameron Square in Fort William's High Street. In turn, this will provide a new events venue which will help local businesses to grow. It is hoped work will begin on this project in the summer.

Other projects include:

•£150k for slope stabilisation works to reduce the risk of rock falls on the A890 Stromeferry Bypass between Attadale and Ardnaff

•£600k for the purchase and installation of two additional biomass boilers to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions on two school sites

•£500k to assist with the funding of house building at Woodside, Inverness and Bridgend, Alness (11 houses and eight flats, respectively)

•£450k for projects involving flood alleviation, drainage, surfacing and street lighting

•£70k to improve playpark provision across the Highlands

•£45k to improve safety and disabled access on paths

A further £64k is uncommitted as a contingency sum against cost variations in the projects.

(JP)