Negotiations with the land owners concerned, which focussed on resolving land access and boundary treatment details, led to the withdrawal of all objections to the CPO saving all parties the expense of taking part in an Inquiry.

The council agreed detailed costs for the project and associated sports facilities of £55 million back in March. The costs of the West Link scheme alone are reported at £36.6m (at December 2014 prices).

The council has now appointed the Inverness Office of District Valuer Services (DVS) to carry out valuation assessments for the purchase of the land required for the scheme.

Chair of the planning development and infrastructure committee, Cllr Audrey Sinclair said: “We will be holding our first Local Community Liaison Group meeting on 31 August. The purpose of this group is to ensure the local communities are fully informed of the project and have a forum where any questions can be addressed. Representatives of local community councils have been invited. We will also be writing out to local residents with information.”

Leader of The Highland Council, Cllr Margaret Davidson, added: “This is excellent news for Inverness and the surrounding area. We can finally get on with the work of building the road. The West-Link project will deliver a greatly improved infrastructure to support the future development, growth and prosperity of Inverness and indeed the whole of the Highlands.”

Preparatory works are scheduled to begin next month and further information on the project timescales will be issued at the start of September.

Councillors will be asked to grant full planning permission for a new rugby clubhouse, an artificial pitch and two grass pitches next week.