Aviemore is emerging as the favoured location to be promoted as the Highland bid for the headquarters of the Scottish Natural Heritage.

The holiday village and gateway to the Highlands is seen as the natural choice for a "state-of-the-art" home of the Government’s environmental agency.

The Highland Council decided to pitch for SNH to move north following the announcement by the Scottish Executive that the agency is on the list of services, whose office accommodation and location is being reviewed and it has wasted no time in setting up a Task Force to take forward the initiative.

Convener David Green and Councillor Sandy Park, Chairman of the Planning Development Europe and Tourism Committee, have met senior representatives from Highlands and Islands Enterprise to begin the process of presenting a bid to the Executive. Being kept advised of developments will be the Scottish Council for Development and Industry and the UHI Millennium Institute.

Councillor Green confirmed: "Aviemore is emerging as a front runner. It has many advantages, not least being at the heart of the proposed new national park and some of the most prized environmental designations in Scotland. It is situated at the gateway to the Highlands on the A 9 and has good transport links, being only 40 minutes from Inverness Airport.

"We will be devising a work plan to take forward our ideas, including identifying the cost benefit to the area; the cost of relocating staff and provision of a state of the art building for the headquarters. We would also like to investigate the possibility of linking a scientific research facility with the UHI Millennium Institute."