HIGHLAND Council’s decision to reject a planning application to develop a house on a site near Culloden Battlefield has been welcomed by the National Trust for Scotland.
Developers wanted to convert a steading to form a house at land 120 metres south-west of Culchunaig Farmhouse, Westhill, Inverness, within the designated area on the Inventory of Historic Battlefields and the Culloden Muir Conservation Area.
This was the second attempt by the applicant to gain permission for the scheme, which was rejected by Scottish ministers last year after councillors initially gave it the go-ahead.
The Trust objected to the revised application last month, in light of information uncovered through new and ongoing historic and archaeological research which highlighted its importance in the battle, the 275th anniversary of which will take place in April.
The latest planning application is the second for a site close to Culloden to be rejected in recent months. In December, a proposal to convert the Treetops Equestrian Centre into a leisure resort, incorporating 13 lodges built on stilts, a cafe, a shop, laundry and a restaurant, was also turned down.
Operations manager at Culloden, where the Trust cares for the core battlefield, Raoul Curtis-Machin said: “We are pleased that the council have acted to protect the area’s important heritage with this decision. Our charity knows how much the public value this special place and we are all concerned about the impact of encroaching development on one of Scotland’s most significant battle sites. We all need to play our part in ensuring it remains for future generations.”
The Trust said its Culloden 300 consultation highlighted the importance that the public, locally, nationally and internationally, place on the site of Culloden, and there was strong support for its protection from the ongoing threat of piecemeal development.
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