An award-winning restaurant on the Isle of Skye has plans for a major expansion which will create 12 new jobs.
The Three Chimneys, located around four miles from Dunvegan, hopes to extend its restaurant, accommodation and car parking facilities.
The eatery and its rooms in Colbost were sold to The Wee Hotel Company, owned by international hotelier Gordon Campbell Gray, in 2019.
Now, Scott Hobbs Planning (SBP) has submitted an application form to Highland Council on behalf of the business.
The documents state a planning application will be shared with the local authority next month.
Expansion plans for The Three Chimneys
The application states the restaurant will be extended to 137sqm, while the tourist accommodation will be expanded to total 20 rooms.
The expansion will create a number of new jobs at The Three Chimneys, with hotel staff to increase from seven to 13 and restaurant staff from 14 to 20.
Documents state: “The design and scale of the proposal is high quality and fits, in both form and style, with the Skye vernacular.
“The bothies and longhouses will be designed with a commitment to high quality and energy efficiency.
“The proposed exterior finishes area simple palette of materials designed to reflect the rural island setting.
“As much as possible, renewable materials will be used and the units will be highly insulated to reduce energy consumption.”
The Three Chimneys also plan to increase parking facilities to three car parks in line with the expansion.
These will include 38 spaces for cars and bikes, including EV charging and accessible spaces.
Committed to ‘looking after’ the local environment
The expansion works are expected to involve the demolition of one property, Heatherlea, which is currently used as staff accommodation.
The application form states this will be replaced with two self-contained tourist “bothies”.
Eight accommodation units across two buildings will also be built in a neighbouring field and woodland, with four additional tourist “bothies” further up the hill.
There are no listed buildings or heritage features within the site, but views to and from nearby Croft Museum, a derelict Category B building, will be considered in the plans.
The planning application will also “justify” the expansion being within a designated Special Landscape Area, which covers the “majority” of north-west Skye.
The Wee Hotel Company has a “Green Team” who are committed to “looking after the local environment, supporting the local community and reducing the hotel and staff’s carbon footprint”.
Documents have noted that although there are “several” Category B trees on sight, most will be unaffected and others will be replaced.
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