Proposals for the planned development of Telford Road Barracks has been granted and work is due to begin within the next few weeks.

Full planning permission was granted to an Edinburgh based building group back in November 1998.

The proposals, as a rough guide, are to consists of 6 units for private sale, 10 flats for private rent and 18 units for a community care unit for people with mental health problems. The community care facility is part of a much larger development for the Inverness and Highland area and the Telford Road site is part and parcel of that development.

The Robertson Group, who are developing the site, were awarded the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme to carry out the building work - the main work will be at Craig Phadrig, where a new hospital is being built to replace nearby Craig Dunain.

Jan Stobbart, Project Manager, Highland Primary Care NHS Trust, confirmed that the contract had been signed and sealed for the Robertson group to start work at the old Barracks site. Jan Stobbart and Bill Beattie of the Robertson Group are planning to start up a community liaison committee group which they hope will allay any fears and reservations that people living in the area may have for such a facility opening up. "We will pass on any relevant information, we don’t want the local community to have any concerns. We want people to be aware of who will be moving into the development. We will be meeting every other month to report to people of any progression. The committee will be starting at the end of June or early July and we will be inviting local councillor Peter Corbett, Merkinch Community Council and a number of resident’s groups to join.

"We’ve established a contract with Robertson’s Group and we won’t be getting involved in the building work anymore until the facilities are ready to move into, which will be late June, early July next year. Our only role now is to monitor the work." The development will be staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Jan added "Although the facility is care in the community, it will be up to hospital standards. We are also planning to have an open day and invite the residents of the area over to the facility before we all move in."

The community liaison group will provide a forum for constructive interaction with local user groups and bodies affected in the development of the facilities within their community as a result of the PFI project and your News and Views will keep readers up to date on any progress.