A MAJOR facelift is planned for the riverside at Thornbush which will dramatically change the area and breathe new life into it. Gael Force Marine Equipment Ltd, the company which has been leasing the Thornbush boatyard as a base for its engineering services since the beginning of the year, completed their purchase of the site at the end of August.
Now, all going well, the site should be transformed within the next year, according to managing director Stewart Graham. “We have applied for planning permission to demolish the big shed and three other small buildings.”

Neighbour notification went out to adjacent residents on 24th August. “The big shed is unsafe – last winter there were sheets of metal flying off it. So we hope it will be demolished by October.”

Until now the firm, which has bases elsewhere in the North, including Fearn in Easter Ross, has only operated its engineering services at Thornbush, employing around 30 of the company's total of 110. They have been involved in the manufacture of automatic feeding pontoons for the fish-farming industry. But following the demolition, the company aims to move their head office to Merkinch and establish a marine centre at the site, with a warehousing operation, rigging shop, offices and a marine mega-store.

The slip is to be retained. If there are no glitches in the planning process, work could start early in the New Year and be complete by the end of June, Mr Graham said.