Beautification Not Enough to Create Italy in Inverness

"The aim is laudable - to create an attractive, pedestrian-friendly environment and boost trade in an area struggling to attract shoppers from the Eastgate Centre and out of town stores - and hopefully the end result will be worth all the inconvenience."

"On the face of it her choice of Milan as a model to follow is somewhat fanciful. After all, Milan is a much larger and wealthier city, is looking forward to hosting a world event in Expo 2015 and has architectural riches such as the magnificent Duomo.

But that also means the problems it has had to overcome were of a much bigger scale. Excluding traffic from Inverness's Union Street, Queensgate and Church Street would be a simple task compared with denying vehicular entry to central Milan to the car-loving Milanesi. Yet with determination and vision, this was accomplished and the north Italian city is now reaping the rewards."