Kirsty snaps up her own £1.6m desert island dream
SHE spent 12 years questioning guests about what they would take to a desert island.
Now Kirsty Young and her husband have bought their own secluded isle – known for its colony of wallabies.
The former Desert Island Discs presenter now owns Inchconnachan island in Loch Lomond, which has lain uninhabited for the past 20 years.
The 103-acre island is a far cry from the £1.4billion Soho House chain of private members’ clubs where the broadcaster’s husband, Nick Jones, made his fortune.
The island, owned since the 14th century by the aristocratic Colquhoun family, has long been neglected. Its existing 1920s bungalow is derelict and the boathouse has ‘almost disintegrated’ due to exposure to the elements.
Now a planning application has been submitted under the name Mr and Mrs Jones to replacethe bungalow with a twostorey timber lodge with three bedrooms. It is understood the island cost the couple £1.6million.
An artist’s impression and floor plans of the proposed development – described as ‘short-term holiday accommodation’ – show a curved building nestled among the island’s trees.
Plans submitted to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park show they also want to build a new boathouse and a shelter to act as ‘warden’s accommodation’. The existing jetty and other outbuildings will be replaced as well. The couple, who have two daughters, are also mindful of conservation as they have applied for ‘natural regeneration of the site and wet woodland/habitat diversity’. Wallabies, which are native to Australia, were introduced to the island in the 1940s by Fiona Bryde Colquhoun, a champion power boater who became Lady Arran after her marriage.
She also had a collection of exotic animals at her home in Hertfordshire, including llamas and alpacas before they became fashionable.
Estimates of the number of wallabies on Inchconnachan vary, as the island has been uninhabited for so long that ‘land management has lapsed’. A habitat regulations appraisal submitted with the planning application states: ‘Herbivore browsing levels have impacted the progression of tree regeneration and woodland structure.’
Grey squirrel numbers will be reduced by traps and encouraging pine martens to set up home on the island. Out-of-season shooting may also be carried out.
Rhododendron, an invasive species, makes up 10 per cent of the flora on the island and will also be tackled as it has ‘suppressed tree and shrub regeneration’.
Miss Young, 53, and Mr Jones, 58, are keen to ‘reverse the decline’ of the island and their plans will also address problems associated with ‘visitor pressure’. There have been issues with people harvesting wood for campfires and leaving litter on the shoreline. A warden will be employed to advise visitors about behaving responsibly and keeping dogs under control.
The lodge has been described as a ‘high quality and bespoke tourism offer’, but the couple are also understood to be planning to use it for their own holidays.
Trips to the island will be organised for local schoolchildren and
‘Unique opportunity’
public access will continue under the supervision of the warden, who will be based in Luss but with accommodation on the island.
The plans state: ‘Nick and Kirsty are tremendously excited to have this unique opportunity to not only conserve the island, but to enhance the natural habitat and restore it to its natural state. [Their] goal is to create a worldclass place for everybody to enjoy its unique natural beauty.’
Miss Young was born in East Kilbride and grew up in Stirlingshire. She became presenter of Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs in 2006 but stepped down in 2018. She married Mr Jones in 1999.