Deeside hotel-to-flats plan rejected unanimously for its ‘urban’ design

failure to market property as a going concern criticised – and dozens of objections received

By Leanna MacLarty

Published:

Plans to convert a well-known Deeside hotel into flats have been branded “completely horrible” by councillors.

A controversial bid to transform the Tor-na-Coille Hotel at Banchory into nine apartments, with a further 33 flats in two adjoining wings, has been rejected unanimously by members of Aberdeenshire Council’s Marr area committee.

Meeting at Crathes yesterday, they criticised the “incredibly urban” design of the new buildings and the failure to market the Victorian hotel as a going concern.

Planners received nearly 70 letters from residents, most objecting to the plans.

Banchory councillor Karen Clark gave examples of other hotels for which conversion plans had been rejected because they had not been sufficiently marketed, including the Midmar Inn.

Aberdeenshire Council planning officer Mairi Stewart said the failure to continue to operate the property as a hotel did not break any of the council’s policies.

Councillor Jill Webster warned a refusal on that basis could give grounds for an appeal by the applicant, Cala Management.

Roxanne Sloan-Maris, the hotel’s owner, has argued the building would cost £1million to refurbish and that funding was becoming increasingly difficult to secure. Speaking after the meeting, she said she was disappointed at the “short-sightedness” of councillors who had not appreciated the “long-term and sustainable” benefits to the community.

She said: “It is easy to see what councillors are against but it is hard to appreciate what they are for.”

Councillor Karen Clark also criticised the “off-the-shelf” design of the project.

“If we are going to lose a beautiful hotel we have to make sure we gain more than we lose,” she said. “We have to raise the bar in Banchory.”

Fellow councillor Peter Argyle branded the extension design “incredibly urban” and inappropriate next to the “iconic” Victorian hotel.

He warned that there was already a shortage of hotel rooms in Aberdeen and the surrounding area.

The proposal was submitted more than a year ago but has suffered a series of setbacks.

In May the applicant withdrew plans for three houses in front of the hotel and in December a decision was deferred to allow councillors to make a site visit.

Banchory councillor Linda Clark said she was impressed with the design and that flats were needed in the town, but expressed concern over the fate of hotel employees, despite training they are being offered.

Banchory Community Council chairman Keith White said many residents had expressed the same misgivings as councillors about the proposal.

He said tourism was going to become increasingly important in the town and there was a perception among residents of there being a concentration of new development in the north of Aberdeenshire.

“It would be a pity to lose a hotel of its size,” he said.

He added that the new design was “wrong” and did not blend in with the site.

A spokesman for Cala Management said the developer would “reserve judgment” on whether or not to lodge an appeal until it saw the written refusal from the council.