Backers of plans to create a world-class climbing gym in the Highland capital have found new premises for the venture.
The long-running saga to create the Ledge Climbing Gym looked to have hit a wall in the summer after a bid to site it in a converted warehouse in Lotland Street – next to a fuel storage and distribution site – was deemed to pose too high a risk.
Backers said the £3 million centre would create 46 jobs, with the provision of a gym, fitness studio, retail outlet and café as well as climbing facilities generating £1 million a year for the local economy.
While developers detailed plans to create a military standard “blast wall” around the facility, councillors turned down their application on the basis of advice from the Health and Safety Executive.
They said that while the risk of a blast occurring was small, the impact if it did happen could be devastating.
The Ledge chief executive Duncan McCallum insisted at the time that the rejection was not the end of the road, with two other sites identified…