Welcome to Heir-shire, Prince Charles' Scots vision

• Dumfries House was bought from the Marquess of Bute three years ago by the Prince's Charities Foundation to avoid a public sale and to protect its valuable contents

Three years later, not a single brick has been laid at Knockroon, on the Dumfries House estate - but Prince Charles has made a return to Scotland to reveal further bold development plans for an upmarket hotel and a training centre for local youngsters to learn traditional skills.

Speaking at an agricultural conference at the house yesterday, he also announced a deal to turn the farm on the estate, which is managed by supermarket giant Morrisons, into a "blueprint" for profitable and sustainable British farming.

The new hotel complex and training centre, which will teach crafts such as joinery and dry stone walling and will be based in an unused sawmill, is to be created on estate land adjacent to the 770-home leafy village development which has been widely compared to the prince's village in Dorset - a traditional-style, small-town look which has been both praised and ridiculed by architects.

Work was scheduled to begin on the Knockroon development this summer, but has been delayed - while the final phase of the project is not due to be completed until at least 2035. Experts have also raised fears over the demand for upmarket homes at the site, which has been billed as a green development that would be "good for people and good for the planet".

Dumfries House was bought from the Marquess of Bute three years ago by the Prince's Charities Foundation to avoid a public sale, which would have seen the contents of the stately home - including a large quantity of Chippendale furniture - scattered around the globe.

• Background: Good intentions come at a high price

Last month it emerged the prince was in negative equity with the 20 million loan he took out to fund the acquisition and subsequent refurbishment of the run-down house against the Knockroon land, which has plummeted in value over the past three years.

"Bringing back to life such an important historic house and preserving the beauty, art and craftsmanship of its contents is one thing, but I felt that the land around the house could also act as a powerful catalyst for the regeneration of the whole area," the prince said.

He added that the Knockroon projects would be run by a new events company to be set up by the Prince's Charities Foundation, which aims to support the community around the estate.

"It (the foundation] also plans to build a hotel, create a centre of excellence for skills training and to develop a new mixed-use urban extension to Cumnock."It is understood the prince's foundation is currently compiling a planning application for the hotel, to be submitted to East Ayrshire Council. The council has already earmarked funds to build a school to serve the Knockroon community - once the first phase of housing is built.

Neil McGhee, East Ayrshire councillor for Ballochymyle, welcomed the news, but said the community would benefit from more rapid development.

"We are talking about a 25- to 30-year programme at this stage," said Mr McGhee, who lives in nearby Auchinleck. "Although, on the face of it, it is very exciting news, I don't think I'll live to see it finished - nor will many people around here."

Douglas Reid, a member of the council's planning committee and councillor for Kilmarnock's West district, added: "In terms of training and jobs, it is very exciting.

"We have identified a shortfall in terms of business facilities for the area, and there is an ever- growing need for apprenticeships and training in this current economic climate."

About 400 cattle and 700 sheep are currently farmed on the estate, which Morrisons expects will run as a profitable business by 2014, selling produce through the chain's stores.