The brother of Game of Thrones actress Rose Leslie has been banned from running an Airbnb at their historic Wardhill Castle amid concerns over undrinkable tap water.
At one point the aristocrat told unimpressed hygiene bosses he would rather hand out bottles of water to guests instead of installing a filtering system.
And on several other occasions, he refused to let environmental officers into the estate to carry out probes into the private water supply to the property.
The 12th-century castle has been in the Leslie family for more than 800 years, and is where the Hollywood star and her siblings spent most of their childhood.
For generations, it was a private home that gave the Clan Fraser of Lovat descendants some respite away from the public eye, hidden in the thick woodlands near Inverurie.
But when Rose’s older brother William and his wife Sarah took over the estate in 2014, they began plotting how they could turn the historic building into a business.
What did the wealthy couple do with Wardhill Castle?
The couple started by introducing a glamping site and refurbishing the gatehouse, stables, farmhouse and bothy so these could be rented out to holidaymakers.
They also began advertising Wardhill as a wedding venue, following suit from Rose who married her Game of Thrones co-star Kit Harington there in 2018.
The celebration drew thousands of fans and paparazzi from across the world, who flocked to the otherwise quiet village nearby in hope of glimpsing the celebrity guests.
William and Sarah revamped the castle and now live in their own wing at Wardhill with their nine-year-old son Harry.
Meanwhile, the rest of the landmark – eight bedrooms and bathrooms, a formal dining room, library, snug and drawing room – is rented out on an exclusive-use basis.
For those with less luxurious tastes, the wealthy couple turned the small bothy on the grounds into a two-bed Airbnb in 2024.
However, they have now been ordered to shut this short-term let after Environmental Health officials raised issues with the water supply in the property.
So what issues have Environmental Health raised?
Papers submitted to Aberdeenshire Council’s licensing sub-committee explain that the pair were given permission to operate the Airbnb under some conditions.
They were granted the licence last September on the basis that they would provide evidence that the tap water in the property is drinkable within nine months.
Such samples, however, have not been sent to Environmental Health still.
In November, officers asked the couple to install a filtering system on the premises as the sample they had taken that month didn’t meet the requirements.
But the couple’s response was that “they do not intend to install the required nitrate filtration system and will instead supply bottled drinking water for guests”.
Environmental Health officials didn’t consider this alternative to be “feasible or realistic” and pushed for the licence to be revoked.
In their report to the committee, they stressed that providing “wholesome water” is an essential requirement for all short-term lets and failing to do so poses health risks.
They added: “The use of water contaminated with bacteria or chemicals, both naturally occurring or introduced through contamination, poses a risk to end users if consumed.
“Additionally, providing bottled water is not a suitable or reliable alternative to providing a wholesome supply as required by the regulations and is only considered as a short-term alternative in emergency situations, such as drought conditions.”
What did the licensing committee say?
Environmental Health civic licence and standards officer, Lucas Duncan, today told the committee that the Leslie family has been asked to rectify the issue a number of times.
However, all of their attempts have fallen on deaf ears.
He added: “Myself and colleagues have been in touch with the host on a number of occasions to try and encourage compliance with the condition.
“But unfortunately these attempts have been unsuccessful.
“I would point out that the service has done all it can to help out the host.”
Mr Duncan concluded that this is a breach of the couple’s licence conditions and their right to operate the Airbnb should be suspended or revoked.
Do you think the Leslie family should be allowed to keep their licence? Let us know in our comments section below
While Central Buchan councillor Geoff Crowson was keen to give the host a chance to rectify the situation with a suspension, fellow committee member Jim Gifford pushed for the licence to be taken away altogether.
He said: “There is clearly no intention [from the owners] of fulfilling the requirements.”
The matter was put to a vote, with six out of eight committee members backing Mr Gifford in scrapping the licence.
This means the Leslie family can no longer operate the Wardhill Airbnb and cannot re-apply for a new licence at least for another year.
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