About Inverurie

TOWN PROFILE:  INVERURIE, SCOTLAND

Inverurie is the largest town in the Garioch Area, and is an important service and administrative centre.  Its physical setting is distinctive;  enclosed by hills and at the point where the rivers Don and Ury join.  Its nearness to Aberdeen has led to its growth as a major commuter settlement since the 1980s.  Physical barriers to growth have resulted in a long thin settlement, stretching north-south over 3 miles and including the former mill village of Port Elphinstone.

The main employers are in the food processing and paper making industries, and the ANM Group, including Thainstone Agriculture Market.  Recent developments include new housing to the north and west of the town;  construction of new police headquarters;  and superstore and commercial developments in the town.  Inverurie benefits from the Aberdeenshire Towns Partnership, bringing together the Council, Scottish Enterprise Grampian, Communities Scotland, business and community representatives.

A key aim of the strategy is to counteract the tendency for jobs and services to be located in Aberdeen.  This will involve identifying housing needs (in Inverurie itself and the surrounding towns) and industry needs;  traffic management schemes;  the development of the town centre masterplan, and community initiatives.  The challenge for the strategy is to achieve these objectives while preserving and building on Inverurie’s character.

Population

Source:  GRoS data and Council Forecast

Housing

Over the past five years, 247 additional dwellings have been built in Inverurie.  166 of these units were built at Conglass, on the north western edge of the settlement.  There have also been a considerable number of units built on redeveloped “brownfield” sites within the settlement, most of which were “affordable housing” units, mainly flats.

The remaining capacity remains on sites zoned for housing, for an additional 458 units, of which 42 have planning permission.  A further 22 units on other sites

have planning permission.  Housing land is located mainly to the west of the bypass at Blackhall Road and at Conglass.

Source:  Housing Schedules 2003, Aberdeenshire Council

Industry

There are a further 7.12 hectares of land zoned for industrial or business activity in Inverurie, all of which is classed as marketable, although none is currently serviced.  The main area of industrial land is to the west of the settlement.

Source:  Employment Land Audit 2003, Aberdeenshire Council 

Labour Market

Main Employers

Definition based on more than 50 employees.  Source:  Various

Employment

Unemployment

Tourism

Inverurie is centrally located to access many of Aberdeenshire’s attractions and sites of interest.  The distinctive mountain of Bennachie is close by, and is one of the most popular climbs for visitors and the local population.  There are many standing stones and prehistoric sites in the area and, in Bennachie’s shadow, at Oyne, is the Archaeolink Pre-History park.  Opened in 1977, it attracts around 20,000 visitors per annum.  There are also plans to extend the ‘Gordon Way’ to Inverurie, providing a long distance walkway linking to the settlements of Rhynie and Huntly.

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