Young stars’ Olympic dream put at risk by planning row
THE OLYMPIC dreams of two rising stars in the surfing world are turning into a bit of a nightmare as Argyll and Bute Council planning officers were expected to recommend that the hut the youngsters train from should be torn down, at a planning meeting yesterday (Wednesday).
But the owner of the hut says she is determined to fight any demolition order, while another objector says the council is ‘playing with children’s dreams’.
Blackhouse Watersports’ hut is three metres by four metres and has the backing of Argyll MSP Michael Russell and former MSP Jamie McGrigor, as well as celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, but it does not have the support of every islander. Some want the council to remove the ‘ blot’ on an otherwise unfettered landscape. Tiree has long been known for its outstanding natural beauty, but in the past few decades it has also become world-renowned for surfing.
The island has the reputation as the Hawaii of the north because of strong winds and perfect waves.
Tiree’s waves have helped two island youngsters compete all over the world in surfing competitions. This week under18 Scottish champion Finn MacDonald, 15, and under14 national champion Ben Larg, 11, are competing in the Azores as part of the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships.
The pair are hoping to make it to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 by continuing to use the beach at Balevullin as a training ground. The boys and their parents say the hut is intrinsic to their training and safety.
When mum and entrepreneur Iona Larg set up Blackhouse Watersports with a colleague, they spent a few seasons working from a trailer in Balevullin beach car park before seeking permission from landowners, Argyll Estates, to erect a hut.
It was Argyll Estates who approved a plan for the hut on the beach.
Some years on, Argyll and Bute Council officers have now said leaving the hut standing without council planning permission sets a precedent for other people who may want to place huts on the beach.
At the time of going to press, there were 39 objections to the hut, 100 expressions of support and a 135-signature petition of support.
A report by council officials said: ‘ Officers have not been persuaded that such a building must necessarily be sited directly on the beach.
‘It could, effectively, be elsewhere on the island with those more essential functions such as shelter, first aid and lifeguard facilities provided for from a temporary shelter taken to the beach and then removed at the end of the business day.’
Karl Hughes, father of Finn, said the idea of beach hut on the island is not a new concept.
Mr Hughes, who works in Iraq as an environmental consultant, said: ‘ The precedent was set some 16 years ago at Barrapol Loch where there is already a hut on an inland loch for surfers.’
Ms Larg said the hut was fundamental to her growing business at Balevullin beach.
She said: ‘The hut is a point of contact, a place of reference, a place that offers safety for those people who are out surfing.
‘We have even been contacted by the RNLI, which wants to find a safe place for emergency equipment to be stored.
‘As anyone knows who is regularly out on the water, the hut offers the comfort of the safety side of our business. It gives those people who come here to surf an added sense of security.
‘I hope that matters will be reconsidered.’