Nick Nairn sees recipe for success in £100m golf course development

AMBITIOUS plans have been unveiled for a £100 million luxury hotel, leisure and housing complex in Royal Deeside.

The development proposals, which include a cookery school run by celebrity chef Nick Nairn, would be centred on the championship course at Inchmarlo Golf Club on the outskirts of Banchory.

Frank Burnett Ltd, which owns the golf club, is also planning to build 77 executive houses - with a top price of 900,000 - and 35 affordable homes.

Company chairman Stan Troup said yesterday that it was hoped the massive complex would complement the plans for Donald Trump's 750 million golf resort at the Menie Estate near Balmedie on the outskirts of Aberdeen, offering golfing tourists another flagship destination to visit during their stay in the North-east of Scotland.

He said: "This development ticks all the boxes for tourism in the area. The economic returns are expected to amount to 50 million over a 15-year period. And there would be about 400 construction jobs during the construction phase as well as 100 permanent jobs.

"We believe this will be a flagship development at the gateway to Royal Deeside. Royal Deeside in its own right is a global brand. But if we are going to be really serious about taking Royal Deeside back to where it belongs - which in my opinion is at the heart of global tourism - we are going to have to improve dramatically the facilities on offer. We believe this project would be the jewel in the crown for the area."

He added: "We also believe this development complements the Trump scenario and will offer an alternative to the Trump resort."

He said the development could be completed within three years of the plans gaining approval.

A spokeswoman for the Nick Nairn Cook School confirmed the chef was planning to establish his second base in Scotland at Banchory as part of the Inchmarlo development. Nairn, who has a cookery school in Port of Menteith, shelved plans for a cookery school in the Banchory area last year because of the recession.

The spokeswoman said: "This is a revival of project we had to put on hold and it is something we are very keen to do. Having looked at the plans for Inch- marlo, it makes absolute sense to put all the applications in together and be part of their proposals. It is an area where we have always been keen to establish our second cook school in Scotland."

Sarah Malone, the senior vice-president of Trump International Scotland, said the plans re- affirmed the organisation's belief that other courses in the North-east would benefit from the huge investment at the Menie estate links site. She said: "This is welcome news. This will help the north east to become established as a world-class golf tourism destination."

The plans are expected to go before Aberdeenshire Council in November.