Scotland’s housing crisis demands urgent action—but not at the cost of our natural environment. As Inverness grows and pressure mounts to build, councillor Michael Gregson argues for a smarter, greener approach that prioritises compact development, community consent and ecological integrity.

Inverness is the fastest-growing city in Scotland, with a population increase of 15% since 2001. But our national housing emergency is a challenge facing communities the length and breadth of the country, with 16,000 households in temporary accommodation, and 53,000 people classed as homeless.

Some rural areas are suffering major depopulation, with housing shortages at the heart. Furthermore, research by Sheffield, Liverpool and Sheffield Hallam Universities tells us 15,000 affordable homes need to be built in Scotland every year. There has to be a massive housebuilding programme.

But we must not trample over nature in doing so. The sprawl of our towns and cities, car-dependent suburbs replacing biodiversity-rich woodland and agricultural land, is not the answer. Further, reducing natural green spaces to insignificant slivers between housing estates removes habitats, depletes nature networks and ecological connectivity. It also shrinks the potential for our amenity use of these green spaces. which are essential not just for Biodiversity, but also for our own mental and physical Wellbeing.

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