A NEW fish processing plant in the Inverness area which is expected to create around 150 jobs has finally received the green light after a planning scare earlier this week.
At the weekend, members of The Highland Council’s Planning, Environment and Development Committee confirmed the decision made by the Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey Planning Applications Committee last month to grant full planning permission for the change of use of an existing poultry business at Croy into a fish factory producing and packaging salmon fillets and other seafood products. An amendment to reverse the original decision was put forward by Councillor Glenyis Sinclair and seconded by Councillor John Holden.
But it was defeated by 14 votes to seven and it is understood the employment benefits from the operation won the day. The factory is about `12 miles from Inverness. Conversion work is now expected to start shortly and production could be up and running by the end of the year.
The application was from the company Nairnside Ltd which normally specialises in poultry products. This is a new venture for them and it would have partly offset the blow caused by the closure of the Strathaird salmon factory in Inverness with the loss of 325 jobs last summer when its owner, The Seafood Company, decided to move production to Fraserburgh.
However, the plan was criticised by a number of residents in nearby villages who expressed concern over the new factory's impact on the environment and on traffic levels. Some of the councillors who called for the plan to be reversed claimed that the details had not been properly assessed.
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