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Oban guest house to be demolished as BBQ shack built at Glenfinnan

The Press and Journal details recent planning applications in and around Oban and Fort William.

Planning ahead Oban and Fort William
Oban and Fort William planning ahead. Image: Google Street View/ DC Thomson.

Welcome to Oban and the Fort William Planning Ahead – The Press and Journal’s new weekly planning round-up.

It joins our popular north-east and Inverness series’, which offer readers a selection of the most interesting local planning applications.

Oban and Fort William Planning Ahead will encompass applications submitted to Argyll and Bute Council and Highland Council.

It will be published every Wednesday (Tuesday during public holidays) and will feature in our weekly Oban and the Hebrides newsletter -sign up here to get local news straight to your inbox.

This week, a Glenfinnan hotel hopes to gain retrospective permission for an outside eating area and barbeque hut overlooking the iconic viaduct.

Plus, there are plans to build a family home on the site of a former car park in the Slate Islands.

Outside seating area for people to take in Harry Potter views at Glenfinnan

Glenfinnan House Hotel has put in a planning application
Glenfinnan House Hotel has put in a retrospective planning application for a BBQ and outside seating area. Image: Supplied.

The owners of Glenfinnan House Hotel have submitted a retrospective planning application for continued use of a BBQ shack with an ordering shed and removable covered seating area for 40 diners.

The application has been submitted by Podz ‘n’ Planz of Lochaber, on behalf of the hotel.

The design is said to be “minimalistic and designed to fit into a
scenic area in the grounds of a high-end hotel”.

The BBQ hut at Glenfinnan House Hotel. Image: Plodz and Planz.

The area will be open to residents and non-residents during summer.

The application reads: “The hut is provided in an area short on amenities, and will be a welcome addition to the area, selling good quality, hot, fresh barbequed food, to locals and the many, many tourists that visit the area.

The hut at Glenfinnan House Hotel. Image: Podz and Plans.

“Situated in a well-established, beautiful hotel, in stunning surroundings.”

New house in conservation village on former car park site

A four-bedroom home is planned for an area to the northwest of the former Highland Arts Centre in the conservation village of Ellenabech on the Isle of Seil.

Plans for a new house on the Isle of Seil
Plans for a new house on the Isle of Seil. Image: MACARC Architecture & Planning.

The area was formerly used as an overspill car parking for Highland Arts.

In papers alongside the planning application to Argyll and Bute Council, the applicant states the site is: “…near-level, gently sloping down to a water-filled quarry at the south, with a steeply rising backdrop to Dun Mor cliffs to the north.

“An existing screening bund forms the eastern boundary while to the west sit adjacent dwellings.”

The proposed home is  “a new family dwelling house, to accommodate a family who live and work in the village, operating a successful business.

Isle of Seil new house.
A planning application has been lodged for a house on the Isle of Seil. Image: Fair Planning.

While the homes in the conservation village are small by modern comparisons, it is hoped that the new property will remain in keeping but will “reflect modern living requirements”.

That means it will be “larger than many of the former slate-workers cottages in the centre of Ellenabeich, and more in keeping with the larger managers’ houses of the northern perimeter”.

Farmers plan to build new property on Kerrera

Ardentrive Farm House application.
A planning application has been lodged for Ardentive Farm on Kerrera. Image: Ardentive Farm/ Facebook.

The sale of a farm on the Isle of Kerrera has led two long-term residents and farmers on the island to submit a planning application for their own home.

Residents at Ardentrive have applied for a permit to build a new home on the island with two barns for their animals.

The applicants are said to have lived on the island since 1997 and “are an established
part of the community”.

Papers that support the application state: “The original landholding is
being subdivided between six siblings who have inherited Ardentrive.

“The farmhouse and farm buildings are to be sold in 2025 and will no longer be
available to the applicants.

“They seek to form a new base on the land they will assume sole ownership of,
to allow them to continue farming and living on Kerrera, working from home, and making a positive contribution to the community.

The farmers house on Kerrera
The proposed farmer’s house on Kerrera. Image: Fair Planning.

“Proximity between the house, agricultural buildings and the grazings which they serve, further underpins the ability to work from home and to continue to stock and run a small farm shop.

“Ardentrive is a long-established settled farm. This project will allow a farming couple to relocate to land dedicated for their sole use when the existing farmhouse and barns go up for sale in 2025.”

Plans to demolish and replace Oban guest house with homes

Kenmore Guest House in Oban
Kenmore Guest House in Oban. Image: Google Street View.

The owners of an established guest house in Oban have applied to demolish and upgrade the property on their land to provide more sustainable and efficient accommodation.

A previous application for four flats on the same site has been withdrawn.

Kenmore, on Soroba Road, will be torn down to make way for two four-bedroomed semi-detached houses.

An application has been submitted to Argyll and Bute Council for the “demolition of existing guest house, ancillary chalet and outbuildings.”

Proposed house at Kenmore Guest House in Oban.
The proposed house is on land at Kenmore Guest House. Image: Bruce and Neil.

In its place applicants plan to undertake the “erection of two new dwellings with associated car parking using existing vehicular access” onto Soroba Road.

It is many years since the Kenmore Guest House and its attached annexe operated for the tourist trade from its heyday in the 1970s and 80s.

Kenmore was a popular destination for visitors from all over Scotland, with breakfast, dinner and supper for guests.

After closing as a guest house sometime in the early 2000s, it was used as accomodation for workers, before being bought as a residential home.

Read more about each application:


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