HOLYROOD ministers have dealt a major blow to proposals, said to be passionately backed by the Prince of Wales, to restore a Hebridean island castle to its former glory.
They have turned down a plea for £4.5million towards the cost of renovating Kinloch Castle on Rum, estimated at between £6million and £9.9million, prompting cost-cutting changes to earlier proposals.
The rethink has been ordered by the Prince’s Regeneration Trust which has completed a comprehensive review of options available for the 111-year-old Tudor-style mansion on behalf of the Scottish Government and Scottish Natural Heritage, owners of the 26,000-acre nature reserve island.
It has concluded that a modified version of the original proposals are the most likely and affordable, delivering a sustainable future for the castle and its contents with continued public access. It would include a 33-bed hostel within the castle, two apartments for rent, enhanced educational facilities, and a cafe bar.
This would mean shelving, for the time being, plans submitted to Highland Council a month ago for a self-contained hostel, currently located within the mansion, and an activities centre within the grounds.
Officials had said that only by relocating the hostel from the castle to the grounds could urgent restoration of the west and north wings of the castle start in earnest.
A spokesman for the countryside agency said: “Unfortunately, SNH has been unable to secure a significant contribution from the government to the overall funding package.
“Nevertheless, SNH and the Prince's Regeneration Trust remain committed to the project and a number of steps have been taken to maximise opportunities.”
These include the formation of a castle trust, which currently has three SNH board members as trustees.
Its membership will expand over the next six months to accommodate key stakeholders. It plans to apply for charitable status, enabling the trust to apply for a range of funding not available to public bodies.
Talks are to be held between the Rum community and castle trust to outline the revised proposals.
Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, visited the castle last year. It was built by Lancashire textile magnate Sir George Bullough.