Culloden Battlefield set for greater protection

Plans to build houses near the battlefield sparked a row last year

The conservation zone around Culloden Battlefield looks set to be expanded to give the historic site greater protection from development.

A Jacobite force led by Bonnie Prince Charlie was defeated at Culloden by a government army in April 1746.

The fighting took place over a wider area than the parts of the battlefield currently in the care of the National Trust for Scotland (NTS).

Highland councillors will vote on expanding the zone next Wednesday.

If agreed, the conservation area would be extended to become six times larger than its current size.

Protests were held at the battlefield after 16 new houses were given planning permission

Last year, a row broke out after a Scottish government-appointed planning officer approved plans for 16 houses about 400m (1,312ft) from the existing boundary.

NTS warned that the battlefield could become surrounded by properties in the same way as New York City's Central Park.

Protests against the 16-home development were also held at the battlefield.

The housing project still has planning permission but nothing has yet been built on the site on farmland at Viewhill.

Ahead of next week's meeting of Highland Council's Inverness city committee, councillor Ken Gowans told BBC Radio Scotland that the battlefield was a war grave and deserved a greater level of protection.