LISTEN: Controversial tilting pier plans sunk by council vote
Plans for a tilting pier in Inverness have been abandoned
Inverness councillors have sunk plans to build a £300,000 tilting pier on the banks of the River Ness.
Developing the controversial project which will no longer go ahead has already cost £75,000.
It's after Highland Council this afternoon held a meeting in its chamber in which the capital's councillors voted to scrap the proposed tourist attraction.
Its backers had promised it would rake in £150,000 in new income for Inverness, and therefore pay for itself within two-years.
Public officials had previously confirmed that the outdoor artwork would be built on the banks of the River Ness - opposite Eden Court - by June 2017, if councillors voted to give the project planning permission to build.
That's despite the backlash on social media, and over 2,000-people backing an internet petition to halt the project which has already more than a fifth of its budget.
Most of the money - 60-per-cent or £180,000 - going towards the tilting pier was either national arts funding or specifically granted on condition that the finance was spent on making sure the see-saw structure went ahead.
Now the local authority faces being forced by Creative Scotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to give back the funding.
Council workers are currently looking into alternative projects to replace the pier, and are hoping to gain permission from the orgnanisations to keep the grants and use them to pay for something else.
LISTEN: MFR News reporter Bryan Rutherford speaks to Highland Council leader Margaret Davidson who warns more public money may be needed to pay for the remaining outdoor artworks...
The remaining projects in the Inverness Arts Programme are to go ahead.
Co-Chair of the ICARTs working group, Provost Helen Carmichael told MFR News: "I am naturally very disappointed in the decision today to abandon this keystone piece in the Inverness Arts Programme.
"The working group was asked to take forward this project and at every stage committee members agreed the progress.
"It is unfortunate that members felt today that they should be swayed by the views of a small vocal number of critics, rather than represent the silent majority and in particular, the support of many stakeholders in the business community and the views of young people who told us they wanted Inverness to be seen as a modern cultural city."
She added: "This decision will have significant financial consequences, which will mean a loss of some £75,000 already committed to this project.
"The group will now have to go back to our funding partners, Creative Scotland and HIE, to explore whether or not their funding contribution, which was dependent on the Gathering Place, can be put towards another project.
"As we made clear from the outset, these funds were never able to be used for council services such as filling potholes."
Co-Chair of the working group, Councillor Thomas Prag said: "This is a real blow for Inverness.
"We had an opportunity here to give Inverness a unique centrepiece which would have been an asset to the local and regional economy.
"The working group listened to the feedback from the consultation and reviewed the location, which was popular with many of our stakeholders and partners and would have complemented the existing artwork and architecture at Eden Court as part of a tourist trail of features and attractions."