Neighbour concerns about the fate of a former care home in Inverness have been dismissed by planners and proposals for its transformation approved by south planning councillors.
The application by owner Taj Manda to turn 32-bedroom Fairfield care home into an eight-bed private house had been deferred last year pending further representation from neighbours.
They described the proposal as ‘ludicrous’.
The plans include eight en-suite bedrooms with dressing rooms on the second floor with the remaining rooms used for games, yoga, library, nursery, sewing and wine storage, along with a gym and sauna and drawing and music rooms.
There will be 16 bathrooms on the ground floor.
Highland councillors rejected plans last year by Inverness Property Management (IPM) to turn the empty building into a 32-bedroom guest house or budget hotel.
Neighbours objected to those plans on grounds of road and pedestrian safety and lack of sufficient parking.
They also suggested the new plans were a ‘smokescreen’, fearing the huge house will ultimately be turned into multiple-occupancy units.
But planners told south planning councillors that potential future uses of the building were not a material consideration in their decision-making.
They said the principle of conversion was acceptable in planning terms and any future application would be considered as it arose.
Transport Scotland had agreed that a total of 10 parking spaces for the eight bedrooms was acceptable, and they were satisfied with the access arrangements.
Any concerns about noise during the internal construction phase would be addressed as they occurred, the planners said.
