16 August 2012 Last updated at 10:10 ET

Plans for almost 5,000 homes near Inverness to be considered

Plans for 4,960 houses and a range of community, retail and leisure facilities on land between Inverness and Nairn are to be considered.

Highland Council planning officials have recommended that the planning application for a site at Tornagrain be granted permission in principle.

South planning applications committee will visit the proposed site on Tuesday.

They will later meet in Inverness to consider the application.

Moray Estates Development Company Ltd has envisaged the town will have a population of about 10,000.

The settlement would grow over an estimated period of 30 to 40 years.

Tornagrain planning application

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Nairn has a population of 9,200, according to Highland Council's figures.

Moray Estates first submitted a planning application for the new town in 2009.

The site stands in what is known as the A96 Corridor between Inverness and Nairn.

In 2008, Moray Estates appointed US planning consultant Andres Duany and his company DPZ to guide the design of the town.