Planners Give Go-ahead to Major Thurso Hotel Scheme

**Raymond Taylor** · 30-Jan-17, 22:23

"Planners give go-ahead to major Thurso hotel scheme"

This newspaper headline from a few years ago is accurate and we have created a presentation (links below) to explain. We raise this point now at this late stage for two reasons. Firstly, it is only over the last few stages of public consultation that we have realised the majority of people and even councillors did not know this project had already been approved previously. And secondly, an imminent vote by our councillors will be taken on the future of this project.

Our presentation tells how our planning approval was so diabolically reversed more years ago now than I care to remember. It is interesting, revealing and controversial as the decision to overturn was politically motivated. It also touches on the consequences regarding jobs etc, which obviously has had a huge effect on the community and the economy of the town.

Councillors vote on this project on February the 14th 2017. The project's future will be decided on this vote, probably once and for all. This is a Local Plan decision and the next Local Plan review will be another 20 years away.
Highland Council planning officials are supporting our proposals, hundreds of man hours have gone into these planning officials' recommendations. These recommendations come from several rounds of public consultations and thousands of pages of documentation which have been produced mostly at the tax payers expense. The conclusion being support for a tourism and leisure allocation on this site.

All we need now for the chance of this project being delivered is the majority of our local (Caithness) Councillors to say "Aye" when they vote.

Please watch the presentation on our Facebook page (click here) or as a PDF document [recommended] (click here) - find out what went on all those years ago and have your say on Facebook or on this thread.

**The Horseman** · 31-Jan-17, 02:13

I wish you all the best.......someone willing to pump money into Thurso should be commended.
One has to 'Speculate to Accumulate'.

**Mr & Mrs** · 31-Jan-17, 08:19

Good luck to you.

**Goodfellers** · 31-Jan-17, 08:58

Ditto to above comments

**StuartColl** · 31-Jan-17, 10:17

Good luck
Thurso needs all the help it can get. Full credit for sticking at project

**Recycle it** · 31-Jan-17, 10:45

Thurso now has it's own TRUMP .

**k888ven** · 31-Jan-17, 11:33

All the best it will improve Thurso

**vwgolf** · 31-Jan-17, 11:59

All the best for the hotel Thurso needs investment and forward thinking people.

**pat** · 31-Jan-17, 18:51

Best Wishes with your venture

**jockyplunck** · 31-Jan-17, 19:09

Originally Posted by pat

Best Wishes with your venture

hope things work out the jobs are needed.its about time something new came to thurso

**Green_not_greed** · 02-Feb-17, 12:54

Best wishes Raymond. Given all the previous shenanigans and back stabbing hopefully this time it will be approved without incident. Thurso badly needs a quality hotel and the plans etc seem extremely well thought out and in keeping with the area. I fully support this venture (as do many others - look at the support on your facebook page) and hope it goes through. GNG

**crayola** · 04-Feb-17, 01:33

Originally Posted by Recycle it

Thurso now has it's own TRUMP .

Ha ha that's an excellent observation! How did I miss that wonderful comparison?

Raymond's proposed excrescence would destroy the view and the ambience for ever. His delusion is that a 7 metre tall hotel on a mildly sloping field will be almost invisible. I figured long ago that he fades into darkness when compared with the bright people in Thurso but I would never have guessed he doesn't know that light travels in straight lines and that his 7 metre tall hotel would stick up like a sore thumb even more because of that slope.

Raymondo's proposed hotel and his proposed holiday camp and his proposed restaurant and his proposed car park and his proposed roads and his proposed middens to service all of the above would ruin the Goddess' paradise that we all know and love.

Why would the people of Thurso want a noisy smelly holiday camp is such a beautiful location? And why would we want a Travelodge or worse on Victoria Walk? We can sell our best assets to the lowest bidder only once and once that asset has been destroyed we have lost it forever.

And why does his proposal not include a decommissioning plan to clear up the mess in the likely event of commercial failure?

I hope the Caithness councillors can see through his disingenuous plans and veto his proposed destruction of our town.

**Bystander1** · 04-Feb-17, 08:40

Yet again this crazy from somehere Sooth has the idea that it speaks for the people of Thurso. We, the people of Thurso, have elected some kooks over the years but surely nothing this demented.

**Raymond Taylor** · 04-Feb-17, 09:59

Seems the usual suspect has heard about the swell of public opinion getting behind our project. Hijacking all the old threads to continue her scaremongering rubbish from her base in the south. if you only could experience what I am these past few days sweetie. I'm hardly keeping up with all the support getting behind us. People from all walks of life and ages, mostly local living in or near the the town looking after the towns interest, seeing past all the objectors scaremongering.

They like me they know we can turn Thurso into a beacon of light for tourism on the north coast and all the local support that we are being given is absolutely amazing. The people are mobilising and it's a beautiful thing to see, please folk keep it up. We are now at almost 1000 likes on the Thurso Bay Hotel page, if you haven't done so please go hit out our pages like button if you want to see this happen. Also, if you have liked the page, even the smallest comment on your thoughts about the project would be great, many have already done so but every little helps us to formulate the best way forward.

10 days till D Day, I'll be back

**The Horseman** · 04-Feb-17, 18:50

A Business man is a Business man and it continues. Obviously this person is willing to take the chance that no one else is interested in...Why slag him? Is there something hidden? He seems like an 'upfront' guy.....
There will be a lot of money at stake......
Other people stated what I had seen...Hardly any people take advantage of the walk or the ground. Most people are in cars.
I won't say Good Luck....just Good Business!

**David Banks** · 08-Feb-17, 19:35

One interesting feature of the pictorial overview is the number of mature trees which will presumably be planted by the developer.

Will they be planted as seedlings with a canopy which will develop in (say) 30 or 40 years, or will larger trees be used?

**cptdodger** · 09-Feb-17, 15:27

Originally Posted by crayola

Ha ha that's an excellent observation! How did I miss that wonderful comparison?

Raymond's proposed excrescence would destroy the view and the ambience for ever. His delusion is that a 7 metre tall hotel on a mildly sloping field will be almost invisible. I figured long ago that he fades into darkness when compared with the bright people in Thurso but I would never have guessed he doesn't know that light travels in straight lines and that his 7 metre tall hotel would stick up like a sore thumb even more because of that slope.

Raymondo's proposed hotel and his proposed holiday camp and his proposed restaurant and his proposed car park and his proposed roads and his proposed middens to service all of the above would ruin the Goddess' paradise that we all know and love.

Why would the people of Thurso want a noisy smelly holiday camp is such a beautiful location? And why would we want a Travelodge or worse on Victoria Walk? We can sell our best assets to the lowest bidder only once and once that asset has been destroyed we have lost it forever.

And why does his proposal not include a decommissioning plan to clear up the mess in the likely event of commercial failure?

I hope the Caithness councillors can see through his disingenuous plans and veto his proposed destruction of our town.

I wondered when you would stick your oar in again. You really are quite a hateful person, you obviously have a personal grudge against Mr Taylor, which is who knows what, and to be honest I don't really care, These personal attacks are getting tiresome now, you clearly have nothing constructive to say about the subject whatsoever. It's just getting really pathetic now.

**Raymond Taylor** · 10-Feb-17, 09:32

Wow!!!!! The letters page's of the Groat today made very interesting reading this morning. Neil McDonald ( Local Architect), Denchi and Morris Pottinger all have letters in supporting our project.

Neil's is an especially good read and informs what happened last August when your local Councillors decided to not follow their own officials recommendations supporting the hotel and Park project in the next local plan.

It actually makes unbelievable reading the way this was dealt with after all the years of work and public consultation that went into formulating CaSPlan. I won't say anymore at this time and let you make your own mind up. I will be making a final statement/plea to Councillors over the weekend. I'll try to get a copy of Neil's letter so I can post here later today.

Please leave a comment with your thoughts after reading on the Thurso Bay Hotel Facebook page. I cannot tell you how important comments are on this. 5 Days to D-Day.

**Raymond Taylor** · 10-Feb-17, 14:27

Neil Mcdonald who wrote a "defining" article some time ago regarding the Mart site debacle, I'm sure most of you remember. He has once again I would say "hit the nail on the head" in today's Groat.

I have posted a link to the story on the Thurso Bay Hotel Facebook page, Neil just sent me a copy I could post. It's a comprehensive, revealing and somewhat controversial explanation in layman's terms what happened last year when our plans were not adopted into the local plan as recommendation by council officials.

It really need's to be read.

**Kenn** · 12-Feb-17, 00:31

I wish you all the best. I moved to Caithness for the peace and quiet , wide open spaces but none of this is viable without people to promote the area. I can't see where the "Blocking the view," sentiment comes from, whilst admiring Thurso Bay, there is little that overlooks the site apart from Lidl's car park and I have not heard that they are planning a coffee shop or restaurant in the near future!

Thurso is dying commercially so any enterprise that seeks to reverse that trend is to be applauded.