Inverness airport loan repayments up in the air
A senior councillor has predicted a £1.1million loan to Inverness Airport Business Park (IABP) will not be paid back for some time.
Highland Council built a stretch of road connecting the A96 to the location on the agreement that it fully recover costs.
But the IABP has struggled to attract investors since the payout seven years ago and said it cannot afford to make repayments because of insufficient turnover.
The local authority’s planing, environment and development committee accepted the position at their latest meeting.
Black Isle councillor Isobel McCallum asked about the prospect of the authority receiving interest on the loan because she predicted it would not be paid back for a long time.
"I suspect that it will be deferred long-term," she said.
But Stuart Black, the council’s planning director, said it was a non-interest loan.
He said the IABP had been operating in tough market conditions.
Mr Black also told Aird and Loch Ness councillor Helen Carmichael he would get come back to her with a full response after she asked him about the security safeguards in place for the loan.
The IABP had been due to make the first repayment of £587,500 in 2015. The firm also defaulted in May 2010.
IABP chairman David Hastings had said both parties had agreed the deal in 2005 with the understanding a degree of flexibility would be required. Two business tenants are currently in place.
