CAMPAIGNERS have called for the Highlands’ most famous battlefield to be given special protection after the Scottish Government backed plans to build houses beside it.
There are fears that Culloden Moor will be swamped by urban sprawl after a development company won its fight to put homes next to one of the most iconic pieces of land in the country.
The local authority rejected an application from Inverness Estates for 16 residential plots just half a mile from the scene of the last pitched battle fought on British soil.
But the company appealed, and yesterday Scottish Government planning reporter Richard Hickman reversed Highland Council’s decision.
Up to 2,000 soldiers, mostly Highlanders, died during the hour-long Battle of Culloden on April 16, 1746, when Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobite army were routed by government forces.
The moor is a special place for many Scots, and a visitor centre at the site now attracts thousands of people from all over the world every year.
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS), which manages the battlefield and centre, objected to the plans for houses at Viewhill, Balloch, claiming they could affect the special character of the area.
There was also opposition from residents at Viewhill, and Balloch Community Council.
Councillor Jim Crawford, an Independent, yesterday called for government ministers to step in, overrule their planning officials and protect the battlefield.
He said decisions on development around the site should not be taken at council level, and added: “This is the most important landscape left in Scotland.
“We will end up with a situation where you could be on the battlefield and you will see a modern housing development on the edge of it.
“It is not appropriate and I am very disappointed with the reporter.”
And Ian Williams, chairman of Balloch Community Council, said building houses near the battlefield raised concerns that it would “become part of the urban sprawl”.
He added: “You only have to look at the Bannockburn site to see the encroachment of houses there.”
An NTS spokeswoman said: “We are disappointed at this decision.
“We are concerned that encroaching development on Culloden Battlefield – a site of outstanding heritage significance – could further erode its unique sense of place.”
Inverness Estates, which is a joint venture between Tulloch Homes Group and Upland Developments, will demolish a number of disused farm buildings to make way for the housing plots. The company’s agent, Gary Johnston, of GH Johnston Building Consultants Ltd, said that the firm was delighted with the decision to uphold the appeal, and was starting work on detailed designs.
He added: “We discussed the proposals with the National Trust for Scotland during the application and we feel that their comments and observations can be taken on board to provide a quality of design in keeping with this landscape setting.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman did not comment on Mr Crawford’s calls for ministers to examine the application.
She said: “The reporter has issued an intentions notice which means planning permission will be granted subject to an agreement being reached between the council and the appellant to secure contributions to affordable housing and improvements to cycling and footpaths.”
There are 11 existing houses on the unclassified track off Culloden Road.
Residents claimed that there would be road safety issues, increased potential for flooding and a loss of privacy and amenity because of the new development.
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