Tornagrain – A planned town for the Highlands

The idea of creating a new town for some 10,000 people is not something that is suggested every day. The natural inclination when accommodating a growing population is to extend existing communities – often to exploit existing services, but also because this, in theory at least, can be achieved with least resistance from members of the community.

The post war generation of New Towns has somewhat tarnished the reputation of new planned settlements. This is almost certainly unfair as it ignores Scotland’s long tradition of creating new planned settlements – towns and villages which are now amongst our most treasured districts Scotland has a wealth of deliberately planned communities.

Moray Estates is now planning a new community between Inverness and Nairn, called Tornagrain. Whilst such an idea will not be without its critics, it is believed that the development could provide some important pointers for the future development of Scotland’s towns and cities.

Inverness has grown extremely rapidly in the past two decades and is starting to show some of the growing pains all too evident in many towns and cities across Scotland: suburban housing estates with little to connect them to the area, increasing congestion from car based commuting and finally services, especially retail shopping, located out of town to suit cars and the burgeoning suburbs. The result of all this was that instead of enjoying the benefits of the growing economic success so long desired in the Highlands, concern has grown that the downsides of growth outweigh the benefits.

Recognising that future growth had to be better accommodated, The Highland Council, over a period of four years, produced a comprehensive growth framework for the Inverness – Nairn area for the next 30 years and beyond. The A96 Growth Corridor Framework Document seeks to provide a co-ordinated, long term plan for the expansion of the area. It aims to strengthen existing communities, create new ones, co-ordinate jobs and homes and provide a framework for the delivery of the necessary infrastructure. This process involved significant public consultation.

Moray Estates is a traditional landowner in the area between Inverness and Nairn and owns the Tornagrain site. Having contributed to The Highland Council’s process, the Estate wanted to develop the idea of a new town to create something that would be an enduring success. The Estate visited towns and villages in the UK, Europe and North America to examine success and failure in new and old communities. This brought the Estate into contact with Andres Duany, a celebrated proponent of a return to the principles of traditional urban planning.

Andres Duany and his practice, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co, as well as being world leading traditional town planners, also used a consultative design process called a Charrette. This provides an opportunity to involve local communities and other stakeholders in the design process from a very early stage.

The Estate has always been determined to ensure the maximum community involvement in any proposals for Tornagrain so it appointed DPZ to run a Charrette to design the new town of Tornagrain in September 2006. The Charrette used a combination of focused workshop and discussion forums together with open design sessions with the designers to engage with the community, draw upon their views and also to discuss and air their concerns.

Some 600 people attended the Charrette, voicing a wide variety of views. Even those attending who were opposed to the proposal were overwhelmingly positive about the process and the opportunity to be involved. The Charrette was followed by three further exhibitions which took communities through the various stages of the preparation of the planning application and offered more chances for input and discussion.

The process of pre-application consultation adopted by the Estate is consistent with the Scottish Government’s agenda for community engagement in the planning process. The Estate is firmly of the view that developers should do it not just because they have to, but because it produces a better result. In the case of Tornagrain, community input influenced the design, demanded reflection on certain elements to address concerns, and has even led to a change of name – the town was originally to be called Castle Stuart.

The town has been designed according to the principles of New Urbanism, or Traditional Urbanism as it is more often known in the UK. The design of Tornagrain with its High Street, central square, walkable neighbourhoods and legible interconnected street network seeks to emulate town planning and urban design practice from the period before the Second World War. Jobs, services, schools and shops are designed to be within walking distance. Access to public transport is vital – there is a proposed rail halt. Neighbourhoods are diverse, socially mixed and more compact than their suburban equivalents. Lastly the design style and architecture is designed to reflect and emulate (rather than copy) the local area as opposed to those replicable in developments from Nairn to Nuneaton.

The Estate is confident that Tornagrain will have a very significant positive impact on the local area and economy. Beyond that it is hoped that Tornagrain will provide ideas and inspiration for other developers around Scotland.