Thurso hotel plan to come up next month

A CONTROVERSIAL plan to build an 81-bed hotel at a derelict site in Thurso is expected to be decided in November after a delay of two months.

The application by Whitbread, which owns the Premier Inn chain of hotels, was due to go before Highland Council's planning committee in September, but it was delayed to address issues relating to possible flooding and drainage.

A council spokeswoman said both issues have now been resolved.

"The delays have been as a result of the need for a town centre viability assessment, revisions to the designs and further information and clarification required by transport and planning," she explained, adding that the assessment will be available publicly as soon as possible.

"Once the designs are finalised, these will be added as well."

The application is now due to go before the planning committee on Tuesday, November 27.

An objection was initially lodged by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency over concerns about the flooding but that was withdrawn last month.

Scottish Water did not oppose the plan but highlighted issues on the waste-water treatment system. They have been addressed.

A Whitbread spokesman said yesterday that the company is working with Highland Council to ensure "all the relevant data and supporting information" is made available.

"We understand the application will go before the planning committee in November," he said.

The proposed hotel has attracted 116 representations from the public – both in favour and against.

Local hoteliers and other accommodation providers claim a Premier Inn would affect trade and result in local job losses, while supporters say it would boost tourism and greatly improve the site which has been described as an eyesore.

Earlier this year, Caithness Chamber of Commerce warned that the project would have "a significant negative impact" on other businesses and the town centre.

But retired local businessman Andy Bruce, who ran Far North Aviation at Wick airport for 28 years, supports the proposed development at the former mart site in Ormlie Road.

Caithness is "screaming out" for more hotel accommodation, he said.

Mike Potts, chairman of Thurso Community Council, also backed the plan. "It will utilise the site properly, provide further amenities and will tidy up an area which desperately needs it," he said.

"I know there's opposition from other hoteliers and accommodation providers but Premier offers a very basic service which is cost-effective and would be accessible by rail."

However, Mr Potts said the hotel plan could "compound the existing traffic problem" in that part of Thurso and says planners should address this.

Whitbread has applied for a three-storey hotel with landscaping and car parking.

If approved, it would be the most northerly Premier Inn in the UK.

The development would represent a multimillion-pound investment and create around 30 jobs.

The site was owned by Tesco, which planned to build a new supermarket, but the project was later scrapped. In 2015, the company sold the land to London and Scottish Investments.