THE developers of Taymouth Castle are facing calls to “open up their plans to full public scrutiny” amid concerns about apparent discrepancies in published documents.
Discovery Land Company (DLC) is developing the estate on Loch Tay, in Highland Perthshire, into an exclusive residential resort for the mega-rich, modelled on luxury compounds run by the firm in North America and across the globe.
Elsewhere, access to DLC-owned land is restricted to staff and members – who pay initiation fees of up to $300,000 and follow-up annual fees of as much as $37,500 on top of house prices well into the multi-million-pound bracket – but the company has insisted it will respect the “letter and spirit” of Scotland’s open access laws.
However, recent concerns have centred on whether the “masterplan” for the site, which was published by the developers in 2023 after pressure from senior SNP figures John Swinney and Pete Wishart, is accurate.
The 2023 image, which is available on the welcometotaymouth website, shows core paths along both the north and south of the Tay running east from Kenmore to the castle, where a bridge crosses to the north path.
However, DLC’s access strategy plan for the estate, published this summer on the Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) planning portal, omits the core paths north of the river. The access plan led Ramblers Scotland to intervene and call for DLC to go “back to the drawing board”.
Further, the 2023 masterplan shows six residential “zones” within the estate. However, a planning statement submitted to PKC in July appears to show a seventh, north of the river where the original masterplan showed only forest.
An amended planning statement was later submitted to PKC in August with that extra development removed, but questions remain.
Scottish Green MSP Mark Ruskell told The National: “Restricting public access and axing core paths is hardly the behaviour of a developer fully committed to the letter and spirit of Scotland’s access laws.
“Perth and Kinross Council should require a full legally enforceable access plan as a condition of any future planning approval on the site, otherwise they are failing in their duty to uphold the public interest.
“DLC have gained a reputation for ‘salami slicing’ planning applications, bringing forward smaller development proposals while not revealing their overall masterplan. It’s time for them to open up their plans to full public scrutiny, because right now they are just building resentment and opposition.”
A spokesperson from the locally led Protect Loch Tay campaign group said: “DLC’s access strategy plan for Taymouth shows a full third of core paths having been eliminated. Previously they stated the core paths would remain open. Was this just talk to silence questions at the time?
“There are far more questions than answers every time they submit plans. A full masterplan being made public would surely provide those answers."
When DLC were approached for comment, a spokesperson from Taymouth Estate said: “Taymouth Estate is, and always has been, fully committed to honouring the letter and spirit of Scotland’s open access laws.
“The existing core path spans 3.8km, including north of the river, and these existing core paths will be maintained and fully reopened when it is safe to do so. In the meantime, we will continue to maintain access to the estate, with temporary measures in place to protect the public during construction.
“Our planning team is in frequent contact with Perth and Kinross Council’s Planning Department as we continue to work through the planning process, including curtilage.”
A PKC spokesperson said: “We are in discussion with the applicant and will require that Scottish access legislation is adhered to.”
