Welcome to Oban and Fort William Planning Ahead – The Press and Journal’s weekly planning round-up.
It looks at applications submitted to Argyll and Bute Council and Highland Council.
And it joins our popular north-east and Inverness series, which offer readers a selection of the most interesting local planning applications.
This week, we feature a plan for business units in Fort William and a garage-to-self-catering conversion in Banavie.
In Oban, meanwhile, there are plans for a helicopter hangar at Oban Airport and a church hall conversion in Kilmartin.
Business units in Fort William
They has been a long time in the making, but plans for a business park in Fort William are now taking shape.
The proposals for land adjacent to the Angus Centre in Upper Achintore were last presented in 2013 and approved by Highland Council in July of the same year.
Before that, plans were put forward in 2010 for 11 business spaces. Those were also approved.
The current plans are for a proposed Class 4/6 development in Upper Achintore, Fort William.
Class 4 is a business class for offices, research and development of products or processes and light industry, while Class 6 is for storage or distribution.
There has been some progress at the site, with a bellmouth created to allow access to the land.
Architects are now seeking a certificate of lawfulness for proposed use or development to progress the application.
Garage is to be a self-catering unit in Banavie
Homeowners in Banavie, near Fort William, want to convert their garage into a two-bedroom short-term letting unit.
The conversion at Tigh Stobhan, Badabrie, has been lodged by Martin Cairns, who owns the property.
While there are already three parking spaces on the land, a fourth parking space will be created to accommodate users of the self-catering accommodation.
In papers associated with the application, it states:Â “The applicants seek to diversify their opportunities on the site and seek to satisfy a need for tourism-based facilities in the area.”
There is already a one-bedroom self-catering flat at the property.
Helicopter hangar for Oban Airport
A helicopter hangar building with an office and sleeping accommodation has been proposed for a site at Oban Airport in North Connel.
If the plan is approved, it will be used for Bristow Search and Rescue Helicopters.
The site will remain under the ownership of Argyll and Bute Council but will be occupied by Bristow Search and Rescue.
Plans lodged by Ryder Architecture on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council also include an extended access road and helipad hardstanding.
The site is located to the south of Oban Airport Terminal, east of the airport runway, and about 120ft west of the A828.
The hangar will be two storeys, with an overall height of 34ft.
It will be the second application for a hangar building at Oban Airport, alongside the adjacent and approved TSL Ltd office building and hangar scheme.
The area around Oban Airport has long been earmarked for development as part of a wider business park project.
House to be built in church halls
William Beattie has applied for planning permission to build a house within church halls in Kilmartin.
Mr Beattie wants to change the use of a church hall into a dwelling house, with an extension for a bedroom and another for a kitchen.
The existing kitchen and toilets will be removed to create a study and main bathroom.
Windows and doors will be updated to uPVC, with four Velux rooflights and a four-panel skylight in the kitchen extension.
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