MORE than 2000 people have objected to plans to build a golf cart garage on land earmarked for affordable housing.
As The National revealed earlier this month, Discovery Land Company (DLC), a US firm that builds and maintains hyper-luxury compounds across the globe, has applied to build a maintenance building for golf carts on land which has been allocated for local housing.
The plans form part of the wider development of Taymouth Castle, in Kenmore in Perthshire, into a private resort aimed at the mega-rich.
In an application lodged with Perth and Kinross Council (PKC), DLC is seeking permission for the “erection of a building for golf vehicle maintenance purposes” on a 1.6 hectare plot of land designated H42 in the Perth and Kinross Local Development Plan 2.
READ MORE: Taymouth Castle developers in breach of planning rules, satellite images reveal
That development plan says the site in Kenmore was chosen “because of the specific need for additional housing for local and key workers in this area”.
DLC representatives argue in a planning statement that there will be enough space on the H42 plot for 24 affordable homes once the golf cart garage is built. Initial estimates said the land could fit between 21 and 33.
The news has led to a host of objections. On the Perth and Kinross Council planning portal, 50 comments have been lodged. Of these, 49 object to DLC’s plans for the land, while the 50th is neutral. None are in support.
One of the objections lodged is a petition from the Scottish Greens which has been backed by more than 2000 people.
Others have pointed to the fact that the planned golf cart maintenance building will be 8.9 metres high, as application documents make clear.
One local wrote: “I object to this plan for a maintenance building as I live directly behind where the maintenance building would be built, it would block out the sun and daylight and it would be an eyesore. It's nine meters high which means it will be higher than our house.”
Commenting, Green MSP Mark Ruskell (below) said: "It is clear that a lot of people from surrounding communities and across Scotland have very serious concerns about what is being done to the area around Loch Tay and The National has done important work in holding the developers to account and giving voice to those concerns.
"Do we really want even more of our beautiful land to be carved up and turned into exclusive communities for the super-rich? We need affordable housing and services that work for local people, rather than attempts to turn our land into a playground for the wealthy.
“The developers have failed to lay out a clear masterplan for the estate [so] people are left guessing what it will ultimately turn into.
"I hope that Perth and Kinross Council will do the right thing by listening to people across surrounding communities and rejecting this totally inappropriate application."
DLC is looking to build a luxury resort on Loch Tay, encompassing Taymouth Castle and the neighbouring Glenlyon estate as well as a host of other properties in the area which have been bought up.
READ MORE: 'Strengthen land reform' call after US developer buys up more Scottish land
These include Moness Resort, Kenmore Hotel, Kenmore post office and shop, Taymouth Trading, Brae Cottages, Am Fasgadh and Gatehouse, Paper Boat, Police House, and the Boathouse cottages, among other properties. DLC’s Linked In page for the Taymouth project said it will span “8000 majestic acres”.
The firm operates some 35 other exclusive resorts across the world, where law breaches have been reported and deep concerns raised about the environmental impact.
DLC-owned compounds – which the company calls “worlds” – charge initiation fees of up to $300,000 and follow-up annual fees of as much as $37,500.
On top of those charges, house prices on DLC land are well into the multi-million-dollar bracket, with some going as high as the tens of millions for a single property.
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