The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Man with Hydro plan warns he’ll walk away
Crieff Hydro businessman frustrated by council’s lack of ‘ambition’
A multi-million-pound expansion plan for a Perthshire landmark could be derailed in a row over red tape.
The businessman behind the Crieff Hydro Hotel transformation says he is prepared to walk away unless Perth and Kinross Council can prove to him that it has a “hunger” for the scheme.
Stephen Leckie fears his plan to build hundreds of holiday lodges, a care home and assisted living accommodation at the venue will not make it off the drawing board.
The £100 million Crieff Hydro East plan has already been knocked back twice because planners say he failed to lodge sufficient paperwork to support the application.
Mr Leckie said he was dismayed that the council was prepared to reject the plan because one report was not handed in on time. He claims the project would inject a much-needed £25m into the Scottish economy annually.
He said: “I feel the council don’t have enough ambition and they are not encouraging local businesses to invest.”
Perth and Kinross Council has said it will contact Mr Leckie and a meeting could take place “in the near future” to discuss matters.
A £100 million project to expand Crieff Hydro and transform the wider economy is hanging in the balance.
Hotel chief executive Stephen Leckie said he was ready to walk away from the Crieff Hydro East project unless council chiefs can show him they have a “hunger” for it.
Perth and Kinross Council has twice rejected his plan, saying Mr Leckie and his development team had submitted incomplete paperwork.
The Crieff Hydro East scheme would result in the creation of 200 holiday lodges, a 100-bed care home, assisted living accommodation for around 100 residents, leisure facilities, a farm shop and a café..
Mr Leckie, who runs the Crieff Family of Hotels, which includes Peebles Hydro, the Isles of Glencoe Hotel, the Yorkshire Hotel and Hotel Ballachulish, said he met council bosses around a month ago and was prepared to hold one final meeting to decide if it was worth his time resubmitting the Crieff Hydro East application.
“I am totally cheesed off by the way the council has dealt with this,” he said.
“They have rejected the Crieff Hydro East plan twice in four years and I find that quite unsavoury.
“We were told the application was knocked back as it was incomplete, but the paperwork amounted to more than 1,200 pages.
“If the council can convince me they are hungry for a plan like Crieff Hydro East and that they want to back entrepreneurs like me who are keen to invest millions into the local economy then I may resubmit.
“However, if I get the opposite feeling I will have to say ‘I think enough is enough guys,’ and that will be it.”
He continued: “To be honest, it’s not my top priority now.
“We will invest – and have invested – in other areas of the UK.
“I met with council chiefs, including Councillor Ian Campbell, leader of Perth and Kinross Council, around a month ago but have still to hear back from them about a further meeting.
“The plan is up for grabs but the local authority needs to show me they are keen to press ahead with this proposal.
“I have to consider the cost of resubmitting, which will be more than £1,000.”
A council spokesperson said the issue was in hand, adding: “Officers are preparing a list of areas that require to be addressed in any resubmission of the application.
“The applicant’s agent was informed of this last week and we will meet with them and Mr Leckie in the near future to discuss the matter further.”