Developers behind a project to breathe new life into a former Deeside hotel back to life are going batty waiting for the project to be approved.
Half of the Potarch Hotel has already been turned into a luxury self-catering lodge, with seven en-suite bedrooms.
But Ballogie Estate Enterprises want to turn the remaining section into a restaurant and cafe, and have been waiting two months for consent – jeopardising their opening date next month.
The delay is due to the team’s bat survey being out-of-date, meaning a new one had to be carried out before the application could be considered.
The developers are now hoping the assessment will be completed within the week, and that they will get the go-ahead quickly thereafter.
Lewis Gray, property manager at Ballogie Estate Enterprises, said: “We’ve been waiting about two months now, the decision was delayed because we have had to do a bat survey.
“Unfortunately the one we currently had in place was deemed too old to cover this proposal.
“The wait has been quite painstaking in the first place, but I’m hoping there won’t be any more delays now.
“But if the plans were to now be rejected it would have a big effect as it would delay things quite significantly, which would be a real shame for the building and for the area.”
By law, councils are obliged to require a survey and undertake a full assessment of the effects on bats before a planning application is determined.
A spokeswoman for Aberdeenshire Council said: “The reason the Potarch Hotel were asked to compete another survey was because the survey submitted with the previous application from 2015 was out of date.
“The sections which are being altered with this current application were assessed back in 2013 so we needed an update to ensure that there were still no bats present.
“The applicant’s agent has confirmed that second part of the survey was being carried out this week so they will be submitting it next week.”