The Business & Industrial Land Audit (BILA) measures the availability of land allocated in local development plans for business and industrial uses and grades it according to how quickly it can be made available and prepared for use. The idea is to help formulate strategies and inform policy documents.It indicates that 221ha of land immediately available, out of an effective supply of 1,322ha.
Sites were assessed in late 2018 and the final results reveal that a total of 324 were available for development. They have beeb categorised by availability and any constraints delaying development have been identified. In total, 94 sites comprising a total of 221ha were assessed as being immediately available for development.
The information is presented on Highland Council’s website in a format that provides multiple views of the same data, including graphs and summary tables, descriptive text and interactive mapping.
Councillor Allan Henderson, who chairs the council’s environment, development and infrastructure committee, said: “The tool is a very accessible way for people to find out key information. The team have devised it so users can get a clear overview on the availability of sites and can also drill down the system to get the detailed information.
“The council is committed to attracting investment to the Highlands and recognises that economic growth is critical to enabling our communities not just to survive, but to thrive. Having the audit of available opportunities available in such a simple and interactive way is going to be of big help.”
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