Developer withdraws from Cairngorms village plans

A MAJOR developer has withdrawn from controversial plans for a 1,500-home village with the Cairngorm mountains in the background.

Elgin-based Springfield Properties have pulled out of the plans for a village with the Cairngorms as a backdrop. Picture: Ian Rutherford

Despite the decision by Elgin-based Springfield Properties to pull out of the An Camas Mor scheme near Aviemore, the backers claim the project is still well and truly on the cards.

The developer said that the decision to leave the project after three years in the planning had been “difficult”, but claimed it was now focusing on other “business priorities”.

Johnnie Grant, owner of the Rothiemurchus Estate where the village would be built, insisted the scheme would still go ahead, with work on the first phase hopefully starting next spring.

He added: “An Camas Mor LLP is already in discussion with other partners and in the meantime is taking forward this project to the next stage of the detailed planning process with the original team and the work carried out by Springfield.”

The proposal, which would see the village developed in the Cairngorm National Park Authority next to the River Spey over 20-30 years, has been agreed in principal despite strong opposition from environmentalists.

Legal challenges have been mounted and protesters are taking their case to the Supreme Court in London after the Scottish courts overturned their attempts to block the scheme on two occasions.