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AN INVERARAY guesthouse owner is ‘over the moon’ after a planning decision which stopped him running his business was overturned on appeal.
Howard Spicer and his wife Susan moved to the village in spring last year, intending to open Rudha-Na-Craige as a six-bedroom bed-and-breakfast.
However, planning permission was refused by Argyll and Bute Council, due to issues with access from the property onto the A83.
Transport Scotland said the Spicers’ application should be refused as the distance of clear sight does not meet the required standard, and believe that letting some of the bedrooms would disrupt the flow of traffic and be detrimental to trunk road safety.
The decision was seen as particularly strange as the driveway had previously served two other properties and had only been changed recently to allow the guesthouse development.
Had the appeal failed, the Spicers only option would have been to move the driveway 30 yards along the road, costing thousands of pounds.
Luckily, Transport Scotland re-evaluated their position after the initial refusal and removed its objections when the decision came before the appeal board.
Mr Spicer said: ‘I’m over the moon. Although it’s taken us over a year we can now trade properly. I gave up my job to come here and run this business so it was very important to us.
‘I’d like to say thanks for the help given by Argyll and Bute planning committee and the support the people of Inveraray have given us through this.’
