Housing and hotel development for Portincaple revealed

Plans for houses, a hotel and a restaurant have been revealed for the hamlet of Portincaple.

The Drover’s Landing development would see nearly two hectares developed on a site beside Loch Long and close to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, with a slipway, gift shop and boat and cycle hire.

Argyll and Bute Council planners have already said the plans do not require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) – but villagers are against the project.

Portincaple Residents Association says members were shocked by plans they were shown at a meeting of Garelochhead Community Council last month.

And the community council itself says the plans would be ‘very difficult to support’.

But the architect behind the project says it is an ‘amazing opportunity’ and will open up access to the water, as well as paying tribute to the village’s history.

A request for a screening opinion was submitted to the council for a new access road, 36 terraced houses – 24 hillside and 12 lochside- a new mixed commercial use drover’s landing area including public parking and a ‘new public realm with large proportion of open space’.

But an accompanying master plan document shows a two-phase development, with 16 two-storey terraces followed by 12 three-storey homes, plus a 22-room hotel and manager’s flat.

The request stated that the site was in a settlement zone and the Loch Long (coast) area of panoramic quality, while part of it is on the Ancient Woodland Inventory.

Planning officials said the application did not need an EIA ‘on the basis that any impacts would be minimal and issues of environmental concern can be addressed by way of appropriate information supporting a planning application’.

Comments from the public are not permitted for a screening request such as this, and a planning application has not yet been submitted, but details of the request are on the council’s website – the reference number is 19/01450/SCREEN .

The residents association says that some members attended the community council meeting last month, adding:

“The landowner and his representative presented plans for a large scale residential and commercial development on the shore of Loch Long in the centre of the hamlet of Portincaple.

“Residents attending the meeting expressed shock at what was presented as the plans shown did not seem in any way appropriate for a location such as Portincaple, a minor settlement in an Area of Panoramic Quality, and did not seem  in line with the requirements of the Argyll and Bute Local Development Plan or Scottish Planning Policy.

“Although the meeting was not an official community consultation, the landowner gave residents his assurances that he would take on board the feedback and revise his plans in line with the needs of the existing local community.

“The master plan document that has been submitted to the council does not appear to have incorporated any of the feedback, and in fact the development has increased in scale with the addition of a hotel, restaurant and public car parking areas, none of which were disclosed at the previous meeting.

“The residents have found this disappointing and while we are not opposed to change, Portincaple Residents’ Association could not support the proposed plan, however we are optimistic that the landowner and his representatives will undertake full and meaningful engagement with the community in the coming weeks and we welcome further discussions.”

Bruce Jamieson of Puregreenspace architects said the name of the village meant ‘port of the mare’ and drovers from the Highlands used to bring cattle across at that point.

“We have been working on this for a long time and it’s still evolving,” he added.

“It is an exciting development and an amazing opportunity to rediscover a lost connection to Loch Long.”

He said the plan followed landowner Pelham Olive’s recent development at Carrick Castle on the other side of the loch, where an estate lodge development was given approval by the national park four years ago.

In Victorian and Edwardian times tourists used to visit Portincaple after taking a train to the former station at Whistlefield, often visiting Susie’s Castle, and Mr Jamieson said this upturned boat could be recreated as part of the development.

Of the size of the development, he said: “What we have looked at is the density of the site and how it fits into the settlement, we are trying to follow the lines of the road and of the contours.

“Rather than dividing it into plots we will create proper public realm space and a large area with great access to the water – we hope it will be an exemplar.”

Community council convenor Watson Robinson said they had been asking the developer for guidance about the plans for some time, and this led to the landowner and his representative attending last month’s meeting.

He added: “Although the lion’s share of their presentation took part outwith the GCC’s meeting. it would be fair to say that what was presented was neither welcomed or indeed the content expected from the 40 or so local residents that attended.

“Like every other community council we are not opposed to progress but we are both obligated and obliged to reflect the views of our community.

“To that end it would appear  that what was discussed on the night and what has been released since, would be very difficult for our CC to support.

“However we will discuss this along with other issues that have been raised by local people when meet in the forthcoming months.

“At this stage we are and will continue to engage with all relevant parties going forward in a bid to find some kind of common ground.”