122 holiday lodges ‘will boost area’
Chartered surveyors have claimed a new holiday park a company has applied to build “a short walk” from The Gleneagles Hotel near Auchterarder will bring “significant economic benefits” to the area.
Graham and Sibbald says Anchorus Ltd’s proposal to put 122 “luxury” lodges in a field north of the hotel is “targeted at high spending locals and visitors” who want to buy holiday accommodation “in which to spend a significant amount of time each year”.
A supporting statement sent by Graham and Sibbald to the local authority last week says Anchorus Ltd has already selected a local contractor, Almondbank-based timber building manufacturer Island Leisure, to make the lodges.
It says the construction phase will see the equivalent of 14 new full time jobs created locally and that a further 17 people will need to be employed to run the park once it’s fully occupied.
The statement says: “The proposed development site is well placed to allow future customers to explore and enjoy Perthshire’s outdoors and tourism offer. The proposed development sets itself apart from comparison holiday lodge accommodation in terms of size, geography and luxury offering targeted at high spending locals and visitors.
“The development is targeted at customers who desire holiday accommodation in the area in which to spend a significant amount of time each year, i.e. 8-12 weeks in the summer.
“The lodges will be prefabricated units and a local Perthshire contractor (Island Leisure) has been identified.
“This use of pre-fabricated units simplifies the construction process and much reduce the construction periods on site, thus reducing construction impact on the local area.”
The statement goes on to say the project’s total construction cost has been estimated to be around £21.5 million.
And it continues: “The proposal will [also] general significant in-direct economic benefits for the local area.
“Economic benefits will be generated through the off-site spend of customers in the local economy, e.g. in shops and restaurants [and] on leisure activities such as golf, etc.”
Separately a transport statement prepared for Anchorus Ltd by consulting and engineering group Systra claims locals roads will still have “spare capacity” once the development is completed.
It says a vehicle trip assessment undertaken based on 130 lodges “indicates that the proposed development would generate in the region of 24 two-way vehicle trips in the AM peak period and 66 two-way vehicle trips in the PM peak period.
The report continues: “Junctions on the local road network were subject to detailed modelling assessment in line with assessment carried out by a similar nearby development.
The modelling results indicated that all junctions would operate with spare capacity when the proposed development traffic is added to the network.”
The application is now awaiting comment from planners at Perth and Kinross Council.