MacDonald speaks out after Rum Castle sale falls through
“It was the call that I had been dreading, when last Thursday Jeremy Hosking rang to say he’d had enough and was withdrawing his offer to buy Kinloch Castle on Rum.
“He had his offer last summer, via a charitable trust, to invest £10 million to buy the castle and renovate it, accepted.
“Since then a minority of people on the island have made demand after demand on Hosking which he has conceded on. Claims were made that he failed to meet the Isle of Rum Community Trust. He did – I was on the island with him.
“Finally after nine months of this, Hosking has had enough.
“The accommodation has been closed for almost 10 years, tours no longer take place, Kinloch Castle is tragic, a far cry from when it was a buoyant hostel where I stayed with my children.
“NatureScot, formerly Scottish Natural Heritage, has been spending £200,000 per year of taxpayers’ money on trying and failing to stop the decay. Visitor numbers to the island have collapsed.
“This A-listed treasure should have been monitored by Historic Environment Scotland, but it wasn’t.
“The Kinloch Castle Friends Association (KCFA), set up 25 years ago by Professor Ewan Macdonald, was struggling to make an impact. Following a KCFA webinar two years ago, then fantastic help from Kate Forbes, NatureScot agreed to put the property up for sale.
“I wrote to Hosking, a hugely successful businessman who’d spent formative years at Strontian, owns a very successful historic hotel already and runs many steam trains across Britain.
“I was delighted when he submitted an exceptional offer last summer. What also appealed to both the KCFA, NatureScot and others was that he employed Hugh Garratt, a conservation surveyor with an excellent track record of rebuilding important historic buildings. Garratt did a budget for the work and Hosking was happy to fund the rebuild.
“Nine months ago it seemed that a great result was on its way at no cost to the taxpayer, this magnificent building would be restored, jobs were available to all on the island and within a few years we would have a magnificent draw, not just for Rum but the whole west coast.
“Hosking’s charity was about to deliver on the NatureScot Visitor Management Plan, 2011. Gaining meaningful insights into Rum’s remarkable landscapes and nature and into island life past and present would provide a fascinating and highly memorable experience for many people.
‘Doing this within an environment of generous hospitality where the comfort of the visitor and the quality of their overall visitor experience is paramount would turn this into a genuinely world-class experience.
“Castles create considerable local prosperity. Think Eilean Donan or Duart Castle. Both rebuilt a century ago. Rum has a tiny population, less than 40 on a 25,000-acre Scottish Government-owned island. This is not a good example of community success.
“So what now? An appeal for £10m of tax payers money?
“There are more pressing needs, I fear. This has done no favours to the island and broader community of the west coast.