One of Scotland’s top hoteliers will hold crisis talks with council chiefs with the distinct possibility Perthshire will lose £100 million investment due to their “crass” attitude.
Stephen Leckie, chief executive of Crieff Hydro Hotel, is enraged at Perth and Kinross Council knocking back his Crieff Hydro East plan, claiming there was “no discussion” and “no debate” before they made their decision.
He believes the project would create scores of jobs and inject around £25 million into the Scottish economy each year.
The plan was rejected by the council last year when officials told Mr Leckie that information on air quality had not been submitted to planners on time, despite a report apparently having been sent to the council’s environmental health department.
Mr Leckie, who is also chairman of the Scottish Tourism Alliance, then suffered another blow at the council’s local review board when they decided to uphold the refusal of the plan, which would see 200 holiday lodges, a 100-bed care home and assisted living accommodation for another 100 people, along with leisure facilities, a farm shop and café built on land adjacent to Gilmerton.
Local review board convenor Councillor Murray Lyall had admitted that the application had previously been dealt with in a “piecemeal” fashion but he stated the initial refusal should be upheld on the grounds of lack of information, which was endorsed by other board members.
On Tuesday, Mr Leckie said he will now hold crisis talks with council chiefs next month in a bid to see if the Crieff Hydro East plan may still be salvaged, but he revealed he is not optimistic about the outcome.
“We’ve been told the information supplied was incomplete and the local review board convenor admitted our plan had been dealt with in a piecemeal fashion,” he said.
“But this plan has been in the pipeline for four years, has cost us a lot of money to prepare, and the council need to decide whether it’s a case of ‘let’s work here.’
“We provided a 1,200 page document to support our case. I feel the council don’t have enough ambition and they are not encouraging local businesses to invest.”
He continued: “I need to focus on where our plans are and have been talking to various entrepreneurs from other counties in Scotland. We have recently invested in hotels in the likes of Peebles, Kinross and Harrogate in England.
“Actions speak louder than words – if I feel there is no encouragement from the council I will go somewhere else to invest.”
A council spokesperson said: “The council made repeated requests and gave ample time for the relevant information to be provided. This was not forthcoming and the agents were subsequently advised of our intention to refuse the application on that basis.
“Officers attending the meeting next month with Mr Leckie are very hopeful of a positive and productive meeting where they hope to be able to determine a course of action for moving forward to the benefit of the Crieff area.”
