Councillors yesterday overruled their officials' advice and backed an application from one of the richest men in the world to build a new 16-bedroom lodge, next to his existing 14-bedroom Highland retreat that he claims is too small.
There will be an associated electricity substation and retaining wall, all on land associated with the 80-year-old Inverinate House, above the north-eastern shore of Loch Duich near Kyle of Lochalsh.
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, owns the 63,000-acre Inverinate Estate. He bought it 25 years ago for a reputed £25m.
But a report before the local planning committee yesterday explained why the existing lodge was no longer sufficient: "It is explained that the Principal and his extended family currently visit Inverinate for only a few weeks every year in the late summer, however the existing 14-bedroom lodge is limited in terms of its facilities and is outdated (an example being that none of the bedrooms are en suite). The only real solution for the Principal is to construct a new lodge to provide additional sleeping and living accommodation."
The proposed new building comprises a central living area with master bedroom, penthouse chambers, dining room, kitchen, mezzanine level, living rooms and two bedroom wings, some with integral living-room areas.
Only one member of the public objected to the proposed two-storey building as being "like something you would find in the Arabian desert, not something one would expect to see in Scotland".
Planning officials thought the proposed building was "more akin to development found in business parks or halls of residences." They thought it inappropriate for the site.
The existing lodge built in 1929, is not a listed building, but planning officials saw it as "a fine example of Scottish vernacular architecture of its period".
Councillors voted nine to three at the meeting in Portree to support the application.
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