PLANS to turn a nineteenth- century castle into what is claimed will be Scotland's first six-star hotel were unanimously approved yesterday by councillors.
The Toronto-based Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts group is believed to be in line to take over the 450-acre, A-listed Taymouth Castle estate, near Kenmore, in Perthshire, once the estimated (pounds) 50m development has been completed.
Perth and Kinross councillors yesterday voted to grant planning permission for the project, which could create 300 jobs. However, the proposals still have to be approved by the Scottish Executive after the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and Scottish Natural Heritage raised concerns about the plans.
Hotel International, a Hampshire-based development company, plans to restore the castle, construct a new north wing with 72 suites, convert the kennels into a spa, and build holiday lodges on the banks of the river Tay.
Ian Sleith, head of development control at Perth and Kinross Council, recommended that councillors endorse the planning application. His report detailed objections by Sepa over a ''potential flood risk'' and by Historic Scotland regarding the extent of the building work.
Neil Martin, of RBS environmental consultants, based in Edinburgh, yesterday said Hotel International had been established for about 10 years and had recently completed luxury hotel developments for the Hyatt Regency group in St Lucia in the Caribbean, and for the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts group in Hampshire.
He said he was hopeful Taymouth Castle would be taken over by Four Seasons and would open for business by Christmas 2006.
Mr Martin said the project would save the crumbling castle and make it a major tourist attraction. ''The castle is an A-listed building and is one of the most impressive buildings of its sort in Scotland but it has been largely unused since the 1970s.
''This is one of the last opportunities to save Taymouth Castle in terms of its heritage value.''
Mr Martin, who has been working on the project for three years, added: ''The hotel would be five-star plus at least. There will be a very high staff-to-guest ratio with at least one staff member to cater for each guest, which should help the hotel move up to six-star.''
A spokeswoman for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts said yesterday: ''We are looking at a number of properties on an international scale, but as yet no plans have been confirmed for Taymouth Castle.''
Historic Scotland and
VisitScotland both welcomed the possibility that the castle's future could be guaranteed. The castle was once the seat of the Campbells of Breadalbane, one of Scotland's wealthiest landowning families.
The family's estate was broken up soon after the first world war. Since then, the castle has operated as a hotel, a convalescent home, and as the headquarters for civil defence training in Scotland.
A-list company
Four Seasons is a Canadian company with its headquarters in Toronto.
It manages 63 five-star hotels in 29 countries and is popular with celebrities and wealthy businessmen.
Last week, it was ranked the number one luxury hotel company in an annual survey of US hotel guests.
Among its properties are the Four Seasons Hotel in New York and the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris.
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