Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

New horse centre near Banchory gets go-ahead for overnight cabins

The recently opened Bogenraith Equestrian centre is adding the accommodation in response to demand.

An artist impression of the proposed accommodation cabins at Bogenraith Equestrian. Image: Mhorvan Park/DC Thomson
An artist impression of the proposed accommodation cabins at Bogenraith Equestrian. Image: Mhorvan Park/DC Thomson

Competitors visiting a recently opened equestrian centre near Banchory will soon be able to stay there overnight near their beloved horses.

Bogenraith Equestrian had applied to Aberdeenshire Council for permission to add five flat-roofed cabins to the Durris site.

The units will allow people visiting the site to stay overnight on a short-term basis while they take part in competitions at the centre’s arena.

Owners of the fledgling business have invested a lot into creating the equestrian site and wanted to add accommodation following feedback from customers.

The Bogenraith horse-riding arena. Image: Bogenraith Equestrian

As there isn’t a lot of opportunity to stay nearby, the centre owners looked at providing this themselves.

They also hope that visitors staying over will visit the Fern Restaurant that would create further job opportunities and investment into the local economy.

Committee considered temporary permission

Council planners had recommended the “unique” application be approved.

However, they wanted to grant temporary permission for three years in order to give the business time to create a higher quality and permanent replacement.

The proposal recently went before the Kincardine and Mearns area committee.

The new overnight accommodation cabins would look similar to this. Image: Bogenraith Equestrian

Councillor Alan Turner was happy to approve the cabins but asked for the timescale to be extended to five years instead.

This suggestion was backed by councillor Dawn Black who thought three years would be “pushing it a bit”.

She explained: “These pods will be put in, the business will see if this model is working, but then they need to raise more funds to be able to create the more permanent solution.

“Five years would give them more time to create that buffer of finance to put that into action.”

Three-year limit ‘sufficient’

However, councillor Wendy Agnew believed the three-year limit was enough.

She stated: “I would think that three years would be sufficient to decide if it is a viable project or not.”

The stables at Bogenraith Equestrian. Image: Bogenraith Equestrian

Following a vote, the five year limit was backed by nine to three.

What does Bogenraith Equestrian offer visitors?

The recently opened equestrian centre aims to provide “world class” stable, training clinic and competition facilities to attract national and international competitors.

Its horse-riding arena opened earlier this year and the events calendar is already rapidly filling up.

Bogenraith Equestrian hosts many events and its calendar is already booked up. Image: Bogenraith Equestrian

Stables on the site will offer livery year-round for horse owners, and offering services on a short-term basis to competitors.

The five accommodation cabins mark further investment into the business.

Director Marion Dreelan said the approval is a “huge boost” to the purpose-built centre.

She added: “The modules will serve particularly well to those equestrians that are travelling long distance to train or compete.

“Having accommodation on site will be a massive bonus.

“Knowing that there is a self-contained fully kitted out accommodation where friends can share and be on site with their horse is very much sought after.

“Now that we can fill this gap and offer this wonderful luxury and ‘extra’ to equestrians is amazing.”

Conversation