Planners reject bid for two holiday cabins near Inverness Castle due to design issues
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
PLANNING permission for two small holiday cabins on a strip of council land not far from Inverness Castle has been refused for the second time.
David Rennie was first refused by Highland Council planners in 2019 for the site on Culduthel Road beside a backpackers’ hostel, but reapplied last October.
The reasons for first refusal included insufficient parking, the plan not demonstrating significant protection for nearby trees, the proposed cabin design, with external timber cladding and metal roof, being considered inappropriate for the Crown Conservation Area, and for not demonstrating sensitive siting and high-quality design in keeping with local character and historic environment.
The design statement accompanying the second application described the existing site use as an unofficial car park as being an “eye sore”, and pointed out that it was felt that one car space per cabin is adequate given the size of the cabins which would at most be expected to attract one couple/family each.
The statement added that due to the minimal foundations and meagre height of the cabins, there would be no threat to tree roots or branches.
It was also proposed to clad the cabins in “sandstone-type tiling with natural slate roofs”.
The statement ended: “Our scheme would bring a positive use to the site in place of the unmanaged car park that exists currently, bringing more people into the area who will visit local shops and attractions.
“We doubt that there will be any other viable use for this site currently and we would point out that it would be advantageous for the council to see such a scheme occur due to their interest in selling the site.”
The applications attracted objection from Inverness Civic Trust and two neighbours, and it was again refused planning permission under delegated powers.
