Ceremony Marks Major Milestone For Tornagrain
A group of standing stones has been unveiled to mark the start of work on a major new town between Inverness and Nairn.
Tornagrain will be developed on land owned by Moray Estates and will be home to more than 10,000 people, and take between 50 and 60 years to build.
The original masterplan was created by leading US architect Andres Duany.
Local residents, elected representatives and people involved in the development of the project were all on hand to witness the ceremony which follows a tradition used by early communities.
As Lord Moray explained: “Standing stones have been part of the landscape for many centuries in Scotland, particularly in the North. We thought this would be an appropriate way to mark the start of what is very much a new community, but one which builds upon the best traditions of design over past centuries in some of our best-loved communities.”
Each guest at the ceremony was given a small stone, carved with their initials, and laid them around the standing stones, as part of the proceedings.
The small stones will be used to create the setting for the standing stones when they move to their permanent position in the main public park of Tornagrain.
The new town will include almost 5,000 homes, almost 80 hectares of parks and open spaces, three primary schools and one secondary school. Shops, libraries, churches, healthcare facilities and community halls all form part of the blueprint.
Outline planning permission for the development was granted by Highland Council in 2012 after many years of community consultation which included public meetings, exhibitions and a series of newsletters.