The historic Balbegno Castle in the Mearns is poised for a new lease of life under the ownership of a couple who moved from Chicago to purchase the landmark.
Meanwhile, plans for a new Union Street restaurant have been ramped up.
These and more feature in this week’s Planning Ahead, our regular round-up of the latest proposals being pondered across the north-east.
Every week we bring readers a selection of the most interesting applications submitted to our councils to form changes big and small in our communities.
We start with a possible addition to a north-east harbour…
Skipper’s plan to create statue at north-east port
Fisherman Ian Duthie is seeking permission to build a granite memorial next to a north-east harbour.
The addition to the port at Rosehearty, just west of Fraserburgh, would come with a stone base and metal anchor.
It would be used as a way of remembering Rosehearty folk, with remembrance plaques to be attached to honour “people with connections to the local community”.
The 18th century harbour once boomed when the fishing industry was at its peak, but is now mostly used for recreation.
Peterhead junior football team floodlights in the works
Staying on the Buchan coast, a junior football team in Peterhead are looking to make a major upgrade to their ground.
Buchanhaven Hearts JFC have a history dating back to before the First World War, and their home pitch of Raemoss Park has been a staple of the town centre for decades.
And now the SJFA North Premier League team are looking to light things up on the pitch – but not with any new star signings for now…
The Hearties are looking to install six floodlights at Raemoss Park – with three running down each touchline.
These lights would be almost 50ft tall.
Queen’s Terrace flats plan APPROVED
In Aberdeen’s west end, Queen’s Terrace is undergoing a bit of a reinvention.
Plans have recently been formed to turn a pair of adjoining townhouses, both used as offices in recent years, back into housing.
Proposals for 3 Queen’s Terrace, revealed in our round-up in March, remain under review – but the transformation of the building next to it has been rubber-stamped.
Council planners have given the green light for 2 Queen’s Terrace to be converted into a block of apartments, with one on each of the four levels.
It could be an ideal spot for foodies, sandwiched between Number 10 on one side and Amuse by Kevin Dalgleish on the other.
The housing plans followed unsuccessful attempts to find a new taker for the old offices.
Number 2 went to auction last May – and sold for about £200,000.
Update on Union Street takeaway plan for old mobile phone shop
Earlier this year, proposals were put forward to breathe new life into an abandoned mobile phone shop left empty on Aberdeen’s Granite Mile for six years.
The former Vodafone shop at 92 Union Street has lain disused at a prime spot since 2018.
Stonehaven businessman Hafiz Mubarik Hussain put in plans to turn it into a restaurant with takeaway options, and blueprints indicated he would install a pizza oven.
This revamp, tipped to cost £7,500, was approved in March.
And now, further documents have been lodged to shed more light on the project.
Signage plans indicate how the front of the building will look, which will be one of the first things visitors to Union Street will see as they step out from the plush new Flint market.
Closed Inverurie Indian restaurant could be reborn as takeaway
The closed Shahi Darbar restaurant in the Port Elphinstone area of Inverurie could be brought back to life as a new takeaway.
It was known for serving some exotic meats like camel, kangaroo, alpaca and even crocodile.
But the diner has been shut for years, with the final message appearing on its Facebook page just months into the pandemic.
Building papers for the 11 Elphinstone Road address have been submitted by Aberdeen-based AHZ Group.
They detail plans to “alter the restaurant”, to form a takeaway – with a prep area, waiting area and a new fixed counter.
It comes after the building was advertised to rent for about £16,000 per year.
Balbegno Castle plans revealed by new American owners
The historic Balbegno Castle dates back to the 16th century – and was once owned by an Aberdeenshire baron.
Many years later, the A-listed landmark was last owned by the great-great grandson of former Prime Minister William Gladstone.
It sits in 20 acres of grounds between the villages of Edzell and Fettercairn.
Boasting four storeys, six bedrooms, two cellars and a tower wing, it hit the market for £780,000 in 2023.
And now the new American owners are plotting out improvements as they turn it into their family home…
Who are the new owners?
Caroline Betsill and her husband, Lee, are bringing Balbegno Castle back to life – after moving to Aberdeenshire from Chicago.
Caroline, in her 50s, ran an interiors business in the US city but rising violence there spurred the pair to move to the UK with their two young children.
The mum would later tell The Times that “only half” of the structure was livable – that being the Georgian wing rented out as an Airbnb.
The other half was “inches deep in bird droppings” and needed a lot of work…
But they “could see beyond the mess”, and moved in at the end of 2023.
And now the pair have unveiled the details of their £1m renovations scheme in documents recently submitted to Aberdeenshire Council.
So how do Chicago couple plan to jazz up castle?
The new Balbegno Castle owners want to remove a section of the Georgian wall to improve the dining room and drawing room, while creating a “grander scale entrance hall”.
An “uncomfortable” Victorian kitchen would be relocated to a vaulted cellar, making way for a cloakroom.
Upstairs, they want to uncover an original fireplace, while removing a section of the wall to investigate a hidden servants stairway said to lead from the kitchen to the vaulted hall.
Meanwhile, more pipes will be installed on the building’s exterior to protect it from the rain, and a satellite dish and TV aerial will be removed from the chimney and battlement.
A chimney “in danger of collapse” will be taken down too.
And a walled garden will be formed to the front. Stone from the castle grounds would be used to form the majority of the wall.
A Victorian-style greenhouse would be erected as part of the plan.
Summing up all the proposed improvements, architects conclude: “It is Mr and Mrs Betsill’s intention to invest in the renovation of the castle, to repair the damaged structure, to unpick the modern alterations.”
‘We will even reuse trees toppled by fierce storms’
The documents sent to Aberdeenshire Council add: “The property was bought to allow the family to relocate to a wonderful family home.
“The intention is not only to create a family home from the tower, Georgian wing and Victorian offshoot, but to do so respectfully and sympathetically.
“A number of trees have come down in the storms of the last 12 months and a sawmill has been approached to remove and cut into sections for building and finishing.”
What do you think of the plans for the historic castle? Let us know in our comments section below
Marcliffe Hotel’s fancy dome plan APPROVED
Finally, plans for an eye-catching makeover at Aberdeen’s illustrious Marcliffe Hotel have been approved.
The swanky five-star venue, opened by former leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, is the city’s only top rated hotel.
And the new owners are looking to expand on that reputation with a brand new canopy in their picturesque grounds.
The glass dome would cover over the internal courtyard, which is currently used for wedding receptions and other events.
Drawings show a glazed skylight over the area – which would allow guests to still bask in the sunshine, or shelter from the more typical weather we get in the north-east.
You can see this week’s plans here:
Castle of Balbegno plans revealed
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