Planning application lodged for new village square in Ardgay

AN ambitious proposal to redevelop a derelict site in the centre of a bypassed Sutherland community has reached an important milestone.

A planning application has been lodged with Highland Council to regenerate the centre of Ardgay in the hope of giving the village new heart.

The exciting scheme involves demolishing the run-down Lady Ross Hotel, which currently occupies the site, and replacing it with a proper village square, bordered by a terrace of four affordable houses, parking and a business hub.

The Kyle of Sutherland Development Trust (KoSDT) is spearheading the project and has the support of Ardgay and District Community Council, Highland Council and others.

Architect Catriona Hill, of CH Architecture, Bonar Bridge, has been appointed agent for the redevelopment. She said earlier this week that a funding package was in place and, if consent is granted, work could start fairly quickly.

She said: “We should start to see something happening by the end of the year.”

Ardgay began to slide downhill economically after the Dornoch Bridge opened 25 years ago, bypassing the community.

The area has since been hit by the closure of Carbisdale Castle youth hostel in 2011 and the destruction by fire of the Falls of Shin Visitor Centre in 2013.

However, there have been signs of an upturn, with a grocery store cum café and a bike shop opening in the village last year.

It is also understood work is due to start shortly on a £1.8 million youth and family centre at South Bonar Industrial Estate, between Ardgay and Bonar Bridge.

The Lady Ross Hotel stands on a one acre site and was once a thriving business but closed down after going into liquidation some eight years ago. It has since fallen into disrepair.

KoSDT decided to embark on a regeneration project in 2015 and local people were consulted about how the site should be redeveloped.

The group’s application for £530,000 from the Scottish Government Regeneration Capital Fund has been successful and funding has also been forthcoming from Highland Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish and Southern Electricity.

Owners Colin and Christine Mitchell, who took over the Lady Ross Hotel nearly four decades ago, recently put the site on the market and KoSDT confirmed this week that the sale has gone through.

Catriona Hill said the masterplan involved demolishing the hotel building, landscaping the area to form a village square and providing 24 new parking spaces.

A historic barn, located next to the hotel, will be refurbished to provide serviced office space. KoSDT is expected to move into this new hub along with the area’s tourist information centre but space will be available for other businesses.

Ms Hill confirmed that bats had been found in the barn but said this had been expected and would not hold the redevelopment back unduly.

Planned at a later date is a terrace of four affordable homes to the west of the square and three affordable housing plots which will be to the back of the site.

The infrastructure for the homes and the housing plots will be put in place but further funding is needed to build the new housing.

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