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Dozens of holiday bothies to be built in Deeside forest in £600,000 plans

Artist impression
Artist impression

Plans have been unveiled to build a “unique country retreat” in the heart of Royal Deeside.

Cairngorm Bothies has been granted planning permission to build 18 picturesque cabins within the 870-acre Blelack Estate near Aboyne.

The £600,000 development is expected to support six jobs in the region.

Six bothies are due to be built by March, with another 12 pencilled in before 2022.

The development has been shaped by a local architects, Gerry Robb Architectural Design Services, and freelance designer Shirley Forbes.

Powered by a solar farm and with water sourced from a purpose-built bore hole tapping into an underground reservoir, the self-sustaining development will be “entirely off grid”.

A number of bothies will also be fully equipped with disabled facilities and be custom-built for wheelchair access.

Cairngorm Bothies will be a sister development to the established Cairngorm Lodges, which comprises of five cabins.

Cairngorm Lodges manager, Alan Benton, said: “Protecting local wildlife and improving the surrounding landscape, whilst supporting the local community, has always been extremely important to us.

“We are committed to create a sustainable, vibrant, viable and functioning tourist destination as ethically and as environmentally friendly as possible.

“We want our visitors to enjoy and appreciate a bio-diverse environment while exploring everything the area has to offer.”

To minimise environmental impact, the foundations of the bothies are being constructed using a ground screw method which minimises the impact to tree roots and soil disturbance within the 100-year-old Scottish pine forest.

The Blelack estate belonged to a branch of The Gordon Clan from around 1500, including Charles Gordon – who led the men of Coldstone, Migvie and Cromar at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

In 1945 Blelack house and estate were divided and sold off separately, with the house being converted into flats.