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The problem with this shower of Councillors is that we, the people, put them there. This is what happens in a democracy when more than half the people don't bother to vote and most of those that do, simply stick their cross against the names of people who are aligned to the voter's preferred political party. We then go and vote for them again at the next election because we haven't clocked that these are the very people who voted for for all the things we thought were nonsense. Councillors then claim they have had a resounding endorsement from the electorate. The muppets are there because we don't take our democratic right to vote seriously enough.

Given the binary nature of yesterday's vote surely two measured statements, addressing either scenario, should have been drafted in advance. To say nothing in the aftermath of such serious news just comes across as msssively unprofessional. Hopefully our CEO was otherwise engaged penning his long overdue letter of resignation.

Chairman Ross Morrison made the following statement to give fans an update on the week’s events. “The club notes with bewilderment and disappointment, yesterday’s refusal of the ICT Battery Farm planning application.” “Without going into everything that happened, it was an especially mystifying decision given that no new evidence was provided which was worthy of overturning the previous progressive and lawful vote in February to grant us planning. We can however confirm that we are appealing the decision to the Scottish Govt.” “While this bizarre decision to overturn our previous successful planning application was a set-back to our robust and long term business plan, we will consolidate and pull together as a Board and a club as we have done many times in our history both on and on the field.” “We want to thank the hundreds of Caley Thistle fans and the businesses and organisations who have been entirely supportive in our quest to improve the club’s financial model and the city’s energy security. “ “On behalf of the Board and as we move into our historic thirtieth year and a crucial end of season period, we need to show that by sticking together and sticking to our values, by backing Duncan and the team, nothing can stop us getting to where we want to be this season and in our next 30 years.” #TogetherNess I understand the frustration, but it is this type of confrontational language which stirred up the opponents of the scheme in the first place. It should be noted that when the application was originally submitted, the Community Council within which the site sits, did not even bother to respond to the application despite being directly consulted by the Council. That lack of response is probably a much better reflection of the level of concern of local residents than we were led to believe yesterday. It is only when the club came out with all guns blazing that any meaningful opposition and safety concerns emerged. The applicants had satisfied the planners on the initial planning concerns and it was only the green space issue which was outstanding. My view is that the response to this concern, that the planting of trees and shrubs would both increase the biodiversity and carbon capture of the site, would have won over sufficient councillors to get the application through. It was the CC's very belated concerns regarding safety which probably tipped the vote the other way. Then, of course, there is the point that the applicants chose not to use the Council's Pre-application Consultation Service. Had they done so, they might have had a better understanding of what the potential obstacles were and therefore submitted an original application which addressed those concerns. It might then have got approval without all the rancour and controversy. Given that this whole episode is one massive own goal by the club, I would have hoped for a bit of humility and contrition in this statement. Sadly, it is not to be and it is all getting a bit embarrassing.

All very sad. It pains me when reflecting on all of this that your football club should be the ticking heartbeat of your local community. In my opinion, our club is not viewed in this way, regardless of yesterday's decision.

The arrogance and entitlement are appalling again in that statement. All the emotive language and the general toys out of the pram attitude will win no one over and is no doubt a major cause of this calamity.

Very sad times for the city. Looking into this it seems personal to some councillors. I live close to the site and trust me it a dumping ground for dogs to empty there guts. For the council to say its utilised by kids and dog walkers then they need to visit the site as there's no official entrance to the land. As for fire risk of course there's risk there's a risk to allowing asda to build a petrol station in a residential area and next to a school. Most houses in the area have gas thats a risk but its all about management. If the rules are followed the risk should be no more than any of the above. As for the green space the whole area was green space. Most recently they didn't have a problem extending the gaelic school onto green land used for dog walking and picnicking area. The land where shakes and cakes is got planning no problem as is the land at the roundabout next to asda and fairway. My personal opinion is the council are not interested in projects like this in the area. Building new houses generates council tax. The building contractor is then made to subsidise new schools, Road and other essential services in the area. The west link has to be justified some how.

Why not go to the game? Maybe your presence will turn our fortunes around.

You are right with that, and in some respects the club certainly hasn't helped itself there. Something that has been said many times over the years though and which sprung to mind again yesterday, is that the city doesn’t deserve the team.

For goodness sake don’t tell Charles!🤣

But they didn't really go through the proper process if they didn't use the Council's pre-application consultation process. This might have allowed them to fully address the issues of concern and have the application go through with a "better look" which would not have triggered the subsequent process. The subsequent process might be very unusual, but I assume it is a legitimate one or else the Council officials would not have allowed it to be used. No doubt the club will, quite rightly, take legal advice on this. Whether it got through the planning committee vote or not is actually not really relevant in terms of judging how the club behaved. Clearly the application had some issues associated with it and there was a significant risk it would not go through the committee and get planning permission. They put the application in knowing that it was on protected green space, so, of course there was a risk. The club put the future of the club against that risk and that, to my mind, was reckless. It would still have been reckless had they won the vote yesterday. If you staked your household's life savings on an even money favourite at Cheltenham, then win or lose, it would still be a very reckless thing to to. If you are going to stake all your savings on something, then you need to be like Putin in today's election and get all the necessary arrangements in place to make sure you do win. The club and its partners failed to do the necessary work to ensure the application's smooth progress and then reduced the chances of it going through subsequently by antagonising the very people they needed to persuade. I should add that I am in no way defending the elected councillors here. It does appear that there are some who have some kind of agenda. Others on both sides of the argument could barely string two words together and were utterly incapable of making a coherent argument to support their voting intention. The whole episode is just a shambles all round.

Well said Danger all that’s missing is “No-one likes but we don’t care” WATP The similarities between ICT and the old Rangers is uncanny let’s hope we don’t end up in the same predicament. Teuchters trying to act like the old firm is not a good route to go down we are a lot better than that. Dougal

Thanks for doing that very interesting leg work at Companies House, hislop. It’s also possible to group the holdings you list into the various “interest groups” that have been involved with the club over the last 25 years or so. I believe the still quite fragmented breakdown is as follows - David Sutherland, family and Dornoch Investments - 300,250. McGilvray Family - 466,983. (Includes some more of what Sandy Catto donated to the Hospice and which I believe Sandy originally bought from Ian Fraser who invested over £300K in the 1996 share issue) Alan Savage/Orion - 466,506 (See note above) Muirfield Mills - 873,500 (I believe that at least one other MM investment of less than £50K would take this above 900,000.) ICT Charitable Trust - 729,500. This is Tulloch’s holding which was donated to the Trust. The Thistle FC and the Caledonian FC blocks are “A” shares while the others are ordinary shares. I’m not sure what the voting arrangements are there or, if they have voting rights, who would exercise these. EDIT - while I was writing, Highland Exile made a post that reminded me of the A share arrangement. Thanks HE!) Note that David Cameron, Roddy Ross and Gordon Munro also have £50K+ Ordinary holdings and will also doubtless have internal political alignments. Many of these shares were bought to keep the wolf from the door - most notably the large Muirfield Mills conglomerate which is money that’s long gone covering losses. I’m also not sure how much is outstanding in loans that may have been made, but with no shares in return, and are still outstanding.

Dunc and the squad have done owt wrong. They're not the one who drove us into this pit of failed business ideas. Just hope we can get Dunc on side to somehow use his contacts to get our precarious position out there.

I find it disappointing that the Club have not put out a statement regarding the planning decision. The decision was made on Thursday morning and they have had plenty of time to put out a holding response. Obviously they need to go away and have a serious assessment of where we are financially and what the prospects of an appeal might be and that takes a bit of time. But a simple statement of disappointment, thanking fans for their support in this matter and a promise of a more detailed statement to follow could have been sent out within the hour. Clearly fans are worried about the future of the club and deserve a little bit of consideration. Gardiner has found the time though to sound off to the "Courier" with further inflammatory language. He refers to "clearly unjust nonsense" and to "insidious behind-the-scenes goings-on from certain councillors". He may have a point, but someone in his position needs to use more measured language. Hopefully the club will now take up the Supporters Trust offer of engagement. The club needs all the friends it can get at this point and it needs its supporters like never before.

I watched the latter half of the "debate". Thanks, Fraz, for posting the link. It is a long time since I've watched a Council debate and I have to say that whilst I was not expecting a high standard of debate, I was appalled at just how awful it was. You get better quality and better informed debate in any pub every day of the week. The application met all the planning requirements and satisfied the Council's professional planners except for the fact that the site occupied a tiny part of designated green space. The club argued that the area of the green space concerned was insignificant and that its loss was more than mitigated for by planting which would have increased both biodiversity and carbon capture. Having said that, it should never have come to this. No doubt our Chairman and CEO will be raging about the injustice of it all, but the fact is, they concocted a plan which involved siting an industrial development on a site designated as green space in an area where there is no other industrial installation. Seemingly, they have done this without seeking pre-application guidance from the Council and arrogantly assumed the plan would be accepted. They also failed to take into account the record the Council has for dreadful planning decisions. When it seemed the application might not be approved, they then launched an ill conceived campaign focussing on things which were completely irrelevant to the planning application. They did this in an aggressive and bullying manner and clearly antagonised a lot of people as a result. If an appeal fails, then the future for our club is grim. And it is our club, the fans' club. It doesn't belong to the Board. Yet they have recklessly staked the future of our club on a poorly managed development proposal which has nothing to do with football. You might have thought they would have adopted a more considered and consultative approach following the problems encountered with the Concert Company idea. Terry Butcher will be a guest of the club on Saturday. When he left us just over 10 years ago, we were sitting 2nd in the Premiership. Who then, would have thought we would be where we are now? What an absolute shambles we are in.

Ayr we go again Unfortunately it's another home game this Saturday as fellow languishers Ayr United make the long trek North to face home strugglers Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Ayr are one of only two teams we have beaten at home in the Championship this season. However, in the presence of one of our highest profile managers ever, it would be rude not to think about the possibility of a seven goal barrage. Terry Butcher is in the area doing a gig with Richard Gough and will pop along to the stadium for a look at the current side. It has to be said that they are not a patch on what Tel Boy built before being lured to Leith for a custard cream, a team we beat in our next match, however, that is history and the mess we find ourselves in now is a sad indictment of the times we live in now under the present regime. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info Battery Farm - Rejected ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 25 11 11 3 42 27 +15 Away 27 13 6 8 50 33 +17 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 52 24 17 11 92 60 +32 We have always had the edge over Ayr United and the H2H shows that. Even recent form has us on top, and that is not always the same for all of our recent opponents. Only three defeats at home. Our prime objective this weekend is a win and would be a bonus but avoiding defeat is an absolute priority. Maybe even scoring a goal might ease the pain... Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Ayr United 3 - 1 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 0 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 2 - 2 (A) Inverness ease away from the bottom: 3 - 1 Inverness added Sean Welsh to the ever expanding longer term injury list suffering from a recurring back injury, but Luis Longstaff was fit enough to make the bench. Ayr United had Logan Chalmers, Jamie Murphy and Anton Dowds as a triple threat up front. Despite this, Inverness cruised home without having to get out of second gear. Three goals inside the last ten minutes of the first half ended the game as a contest. Two from David Wotherspoon and a penalty from Billy Mckay. Ayr got a consolation penalty in a poor second half, but it was an important three points for the Caley Jags and Big Dunc. As comfortable as it was it was still a poor second half where we should have gone on to put Ayr to the sword. As it was, the result was huge in the context of our season and we can overlook the turgid performance in the light of three excellent points and a step up the table to eighth place with games in hand over some teams. FULL TIME: 3-1. Interesting to note that we only had five of the team that started against Ayr back on November 11th available for selection last week with Carson & Wotherspoon away and the rest injured. Still here: Mark Ridgers, Cameron Harper, Danny Devine, Max Anderson, Billy Mckay (subs C Mackay, Wallace Duffy) Gone/Unavailable: Morgan Boyes, Nikola Ujdur, David Wotherspoon, David Carson, Charlie Gilmour, Nathan Shaw (subs Delaney, Thompson, Hyde, Sheridan, Longstaff, Lodovica, Brooks) Last Time Out Inverness failed again at home last Saturday against one of the two teams they had already beaten at home this season. The other being this weeks opponent Ayr United. The Airdrie game ended scoreless, and that was no surprise to those at the stadium. Plenty of effort, plenty of passes, however our Achiles Heel of creating and scoring chances has haunted us for most of the season. Last Five: D D D W D Ayr United were idle last weekend. Their last game was a 2-0 defeat at East End Park on 2ndMarch. Two goals just before the interval by Chris Hamilton and a first for loan signing Chris Kane was the difference between the sides.Scott Brown's best result was a stunning 4-3 win over Partick Thistle (McAllister, Willoughbyx2 and McHugh were the scorers in a see-saw game). However, Ayr have shipped a massive fifty goals in the League and that's something that we need to capitalise on. They have also scored thirty-eight times, so it's important to keep our fourth clean sheet in a row to give us a platform to build on. Last Five: L W L W L Table ahead of Friday nights big game Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Dunfermline v Dundee United Friday night @ 7:45 1. Dundee Utd 28 17 7 4 55 17 58 2. Raith Rovers 28 17 6 5 49 36 57 3. Partick Thistle 28 10 10 8 53 48 40 4. Morton 27 10 7 10 34 31 37 5. Airdrieonians 27 10 6 11 28 30 36 6. Queens Park 28 8 8 12 41 47 32 7. Dunfermline 28 8 8 12 30 38 32 8. Ayr United 27 9 5 13 38 50 32 9. Inverness CT 28 7 10 11 32 32 31 10. Arbroath 27 6 5 16 28 59 23 SATURDAY 16TH MARCH Airdrie v Arbroath Caley Jags v Ayr United Partick v Morton Queen's v Rovers Latest Team News Inverness: Still have massive injury worries ahead of this one with most on the bench still nursing knocks. Long term: Gilmour, Longstaff, Big Harry & Lewis Nicolson. Out: McAllister, Macgregor, Shaw, Ujdur. Struggling: Carragher, Boyes... Have I missed any Duncs pre-match still to come Ayr United: One glaring alteration at Ayr United since they were last here is their manager. Former Hibs and Celtic midfielder Scott Brown is now in charge after Lee Bullen was relieved of his duties on the 15th of January a few days after we had beaten the honest men 3-1 at Somerset Park. He was replaced by Brown some ten days later. Brown has 3 wins to his credit since then from seven games ( QP, Airdrie, Partick), losing to Dundee United, Rangers (cup), Raith Rovers and last time out at Dunfermline. Ayr's January sales deals. In: Nathan McGinley, defender (Motherwell) Loan in: Jack Sanders, defender (Kilmarnock); Josh Clarke, goalkeeper (Celtic); Harry McHugh, midfielder (Wigan Athletic); Kurt Willoughby, forward (Oldham Athletic). Logan Chalmers was a big threat last time we met and with players like Murphy and McGeady on their books plenty of experience at a higher level. On loan forward Kurt Willoughby looks handy. Ayr team @ EEP Clarke McAllister (Tomlinson 90+1) Sanders McGinty Musonda Bryden (Chalmers 45) Dempsey (Smith 76) McHugh Murphy (Syla 76) Dowds McKenzie (Willoughby 56) Subs Not Used: Albinson; McGeady, Stanger, McGinley Good to see that bullying in the workplace is alive and kicking in the Highland Council

Seems to me that the problem with politics nowadays is that all politicians are in it for their own self promotion/gain/importance. They seek attention instead of just getting on with the job and doing what's best for their constituents and/or country. Billy Connolly was absolutely correct when he said "The desire to be a politician should bar you for life from ever becoming one.”

It really isn't. More like "attempting to influence one or more decision makers". Far more likely nowadays to involve backhanders or freebies than "intimidation".

For goodness sake don't tell Dougal!

I’m done with all this! Could we not just merge with Loch Ness f.c. change our name to Invernessie CT, get her marketed on our gear and Bobs your Uncle!

Spot on. The club should just lie down and accept NIMBY councillors who prioritise sledging over 3 and a half million for a local business without kicking up a fuss. The Council have a lot of integrity and really have the best wishes of Inverness at its heart. You can see this from how they gave us the UNESCO registered bridge built on the river ness. And thank god they had the resolve to ignore the 99% of residents here who wanted to save the ironworks. And voted to turn it into a hotel. God bless the councillors. Who know better than us. Our club should be ashamed of daring to speak out against our betters

A lot would disagree with claims that it was intimidation, i bet some of these councillors love a good email, especially when it's to blow smoke up their arses. Surely public officials with online contact details should expect some correspondence from time to time...someone has to let them know how great they are ffs. Or are we all snowflakes now?

It feels like Gardiner and Morrison are getting off on the drama and fighting. Let's not forget that we've seen this kind of aggressive reaction aimed directly at fans with comments about 'clickbait proponents' and the streaming fiasco where fans were told they didn't know what they were talking about, and exaggerating the poor quality of the auto tracking camera setup. Sadly, they also duped many fans into joining them with the intimidation tactics in the mass emailing of councillors. Some may prefer the political term of lobbying, but the very definition of that is 'influence by intimidation'. If the implication of that 'lobbying' is the loss of a vote/support, it is then also a threat.

Ok I have maybe mentioned this once or twice before but never ever underestimate the contempt from Invernessians towards ICT some might even call it hatred. I can’t think of any other large town or city in Scotland whose inhabitants do not engage with their local team. This whole Battery fiasco has damaged our reputation further which was already rock bottom after the concert travesty. The email campaign to councillors was also a complete disaster. I’m not saying all emails would have been nonsense but it only takes one or two illiterate halfwits to ruin the whole exercise which certainly seems to have happened here. So the Highland Council are now all of a sudden the bad guys. This would be the same Council who gifted The club 900k to build the dump out of the Inverness common good fund. Short memories eh? Where this leaves us I do not know but the lack of communication from the so called guardians says it all. The Council are not to blame here the incompetent boards past and present are!!!! Dougal

Since we're all posting images....

I took a screenshot of the live stream.

Please see the statement issued this afternoon by the ICT Supporters Trust following today's decision by The Highland Council: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/post/the-highland-councils-rejection-of-the-battery-park-planning-application

From memory, these shares are classed as category A shares which do not have the right to vote like ordinary shares do. However, instead these shares came with a fixed 10% voting right which is currently held by the supporters trust.

From the last info available on Companies House, I believe these are the people/groups with 50,000 shares or more: No. shares Inverness Caledonian Thistle Trust Limited 729500 Caledonian Football Club 600000 Graham Rae 382400 Former Chairman (Muirfield Mills) Inverness Thistle Football Club 300000 Orion Engineering Services Limited 275189 (Alan Savage - Former Director) Dugald McGilvray 275167 Former Chairman Iain McGilvray 191816 Orion Group UK Limited 191317 (Alan Savage - Former Director) David Cameron 175000 Director Roderick Ross 170000 Club President Richard Hillier 164900 (Muirfield Mills) Russell Cameron 102150 (Muirfield Mills) Dornoch Developments Ltd 100000 (Directors include Caroline Clayton, George Fraser, David Sutherland) Paul MacInnes 89150 (Muirfield Mills) Alan McPhee 77150 Former Director (Muirfield Mills) Emeric Innes 57750 (Muirfield Mills) George Fraser 51600 Former Director David Sutherland 50250 Former Director Gordon Allan Munro 50000 Director Caroline Clayton 50000 Anne Sutherland 50000 Catriona Ramsay 50000

Am I being overly optimistic but surely there must be a back up plan in the event of what has actually happened. I would also suggest that the "investors" have much to lose - reputation and financially wise. ICT is a mere clever but emotionally utilised 'side issue' but perhaps now highly beneficial that WE are cemented in the headlights and headlines. But I still blame the eejits, not in respect of the 'plan' which was evidently built on personal gain, but rather how they executed it.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the club and how this is approached, this is an example of the backwards nature of the council and how projects that serve their interest and vanity get prioritisation. Rejection of a battery farm proposal only will enhance the 'small minded heathens' profile that exists with respect to the Highlanders. Net zero, green transition and therefore battery storage is coming and on that basis full expectation of Scottish Government approval is expected setting the precedent that not just this one but several will be built locally. With BS facilities being granted approval throughout Scotland, most of the justifications for rejection will be dismissed as inconsequential and others just pushed to develop startegic solutions. Wont be long before every town/city has BS facilities whether the HC like that or not.

Has anyone started a go fund me page? I'm sure if Big Dunc got behind it people would gladly donate from far + wide

The first financial cut back the club needs to make is Scot Gardiner. He is surplus to requirements and brought nothing but trouble to the club.

Absolute scaremongering nonsense. Would you be saying the same if they lived near a petrol station?

The next Fans Meeting organised by the Supporters Trust will take place at the Caley Club from 1200 until 1415 on Saturday 6 April. The meeting is open to all fans, and follows on from the meetings held earlier in the season, which allowed many fans to put questions to the club Chairman, Ross Morrison, and Director, Scott Young. This is your opportunity to ask your questions or to make your point about anything to do with Caley Thistle. You can register your interest in the meeting or find out more about it here: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/events-1/ictfc-fans-open-meeting-everyone-welcome-4 We have been delighted to welcome new members recently, and if you are not already a member, have a look round the Trust website and you can join here for only £5 (£1 for Under 16s): https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/join-us We hope to see as many of you as possible on 6 April.

Interesting discussion about the impact of Ferguson on A View From The Terrace tonight. In brief, they felt we are existing in the Championship, playing defensively and not matching his personality. Can’t argue with that.

It’s not a sphere, it’s an oblate spheroid. Prof Pedant.

We will need to move quickly. Loch Ness are in talks with Strathspey Thistle about a merger….

Hail, hail.

Following yesterday's planning decision, this meeting has become even more important. You can register your interest in the meeting or find out more about it here: https://www.ictsupporterstrust.org/events-1/ictfc-fans-open-meeting-everyone-welcome-4 The meeting is open to all fans, and we hope that as many as possible are able to attend.

As a floorshow, here's the Duncan MacPherson v Convener bitchfest...

So the folk who actually own a significant chunk of the club are the same old names from the good old days - Sutherland, McGilvray, Savage, the Muirfield Mills folk. Should they be either sticking their heads above the parapet or forcing change behind the scenes, before it all goes completely to hell?

Can't see how we can afford him now anyway

THATS WHERE I GO SLEDGING DAMNIT!

If this was not a well informed debate and the decision based upon it surely there requires to be an investigation into how the council planning is operating. An independent investigation into the highland council planning department given that references have been made to previous planning decisions. Cannot see the way this was handled as being uniquely flawed. Unfortunately for ICT they now have to consider their options and the future direction of the club. As mentioned if a legal approach were taken it would be costly; where’s Digby Brown when you need him.

Have to remember these aren't the most competent chimps in the zoo. After all, they happily burnt stacks on an "art installation" and completely changed how the river looks...

Duncan Macpherson attended the meeting and was most likely in favour. He was about to point out how much of a hypocrite Oldham was. But then got shut down as apparently you can't speak your mind as an elected official. But lying and saying you've been intimidated by people supporting a battery farm is perfectly fine. This is what we are up against folks. Cognitive dissonance

Fight fight breaking out. Councillor MacPherson ordered to sit down. Its like a scene from the Big Brother House 🤣

The chairman who quite clearly has a bone to pick with us has thrown a jab at the emails we sent. Saying they were intimidating. Whereas the two following councillors to speak said they weren't intimidating at all. Really sounds like he is a holier than thou figure. Who doesn't like losing a vote. And doesn't like being challenged on it

If its not fenced in at present then there is no restraint on access to further green space beyond.