Highland Council has been accused of “hoodwinking” Prince Charles into thinking people living near a new school – deemed so high that it has obliterated views of Ben Nevis – are now happy about the situation.
Prince Charles intervened after Betty Cameron wrote to him asking for help over the new Gaelic primary school that is being built in Caol, near Fort William, which turned out to be much higher than local people had expected.
The 85-year-old was delighted when he contacted Highland Council about the situation and replied to her.
But she is not happy with the information provided to him by the council.
The new £7million Gaelic Medium Primary School being built on Ardgour Road is about 20ft high and the sports hall at the end of Mrs Cameron’s garden, is almost 40ft high.
Mrs Cameron said: “There’s well over a mile of empty ground all the way over to the main road to Fort William, but the council chose to build the school right in front of the only old folk’s houses along there.
“We won’t get any sunlight in our garden in the wintertime. It’s going to be an ice trap for the whole of the winter.
“I was so frustrated with the way Highland Council was treating us and I knew the prince was against the monstrosities that architects put up so I contacted him to see if he could help.”
In the first letter she received the Prince’s private secretary wrote: “Generally speaking, planning issues of this kind are not areas in which his Royal Highness can become involved.
“However, I will make inquires of Highland Council and will write back in due course.”
A subsequent letter from the prince said: “I have been in touch with Highland Council, and have received assurances that the matters you and others have raised in relation to the new Gaelic Primary in Caol, have now been fully investigated and responded to.
“I understand that Caol Community Council has been invited to be involved in the liaison group and I can only hope that you and others in the local community are feeling more confident about the project.”
Mrs Cameron said the council had obviously tried to “pull the wool over his eyes”.
She said: “There is still a lot of discontent here. There seems to be endless meetings with local councillors and site managers trying to come up with things to lessen the effect of the building.”
A Highland Council spokeswoman refused to comment on the prince’s letter saying such correspondence was confidential.
The council also failed to respond to a request for comment on the allegation that it had “hoodwinked” the prince.