New houses that divided opinion on tiny Scottish island get go ahead after three-year battle

The new homes will significantly increase the population of Jura where a need for housing came into conflict with wishes to protect the look and feel of the island

It set those wanting to build new homes on a tiny Scottish island against the hopes of those who wanted to keep it much the same.

Now, a plan to build ten new houses on the isle of Jura have been approved in principle following a three-year battle fought against concerns the scheme was too big, not needed and would overdevelop the island’s main settlement, while spoiling some of the finest views in Scotland.

Sheena Ferrand, who was raised on Jura, pushed on with the plans first thought of by her late mother, Mary Keith, a former district nurse on Jura who wanted to build affordable housing on her plot of croft land on the north side of Craighouse.

Ten new houses have been approved in principle for Craighouse, the main settlement on the isle of Jura, with the proposals meeting significant opposition locally given their impact on the feel and look of the island and infrastructure. PIC: Andrew Curtis/CC

Ms Ferrand said: “She always had this vision. She wanted it to be called McGregor Place after the McGregor heritage of her grandfather on Jura.

“She felt really strongly about it. She felt the island would need affordable houses for families, people with accessibility issues, people getting older who live in council houses with stairs, or those who weren’t ready to go into a care centre. She wanted something practical for the island.

"Around two weeks before she died, I approached mum and said ‘I don’t think things are going too well, I don’t know where we are going with it next’. We had to go through a lot with it, and I asked her if she wanted us to continue. She looked me in the eyes and said ‘yes, I want you to continue’

The Jura Distillery supported new homes on the island given difficulties in finding property for staff. PIC: CC.

Ms Ferrand, who has since left Jura for the mainland, added: "When the permission came through, I was very emotional about my mum as this was something that she strived for, which had a caused a lot of stuff around us.”

Planning approval in principle was granted for the scheme, which was downsized from an original 16 homes to ten. The approval was granted late last month by Argyll and Bute Council’s planning committee.

Documents show 18 members of the public objected to the proposals, with seven letters of support listed, including one from Mrs Ferrand, who put forward the plans with her brother George.

The late Mary Keith, a former district nurse on Jura, who long hoped for affordable homes for Jura. PIC: Contributed.

Most objections were lodged before the scheme was reduced to ten homes, but concerns included the capacity of the primary school and ferry service for those travelling to high school in Islay. Pressure on infrastructure was also raised given the “very significant scale” of population increase posed by the new homes to an island where roughly 250 people live was also noted.

NatureScot originally objected to the proposals in November 2022 given south Jura’s designation as a National Scenic Area – one of 40 in Scotland. The ten-home plan was deemed to be “at odds with the landscape and character” of this stretch of island, with the “over development” incongruous to the "highly sensitive rural setting”.

In April last year, the government agency changed its position and said it no longer objected to the plan. However, it advised the prospect of ten homes created “significant concern”, with the scheme “too large in scale”. The site, it said, was suitable for three or four carefully sited houses.

Sheena Ferrand, who has received planning permission in principle for the 10 new homes on Jura. PIC: Contributed.

Approval of the scheme comes eight months after Argyll and Bute declared a housing emergency, with planners noting the Jura scheme would help address the issue.

A rise in homelessness has been reported in Jura post-pandemic and an increasing lack of housing choice. This has had a direct impact on property prices, with more people living in private rentals, less houses available and local wages not keeping up with inflation, the council said.

Peter Davison, then general manager of the Jura Distillery, said additional affordable housing was necessary.

His letter to the council said: “It is our experience at Whyte and Mackay Ltd that a shortage of such properties has had a major detrimental affect on our ability to fully man our Jura distillery and made off-island recruitment virtually impossible. This has resulted in the distillery having to reduce output, which has had an impact on our cost of manufacture and our ability to meet the demand for what is now the UK's best selling single malt whisky.”

Mr Davison said he was “very keen that any disputes are reconciled and the island economy can island grow”.

Dr Abigail Beastall, who works as a GP on Jura, also supported the new homes given key workers were living in short-term lets such as holiday accommodation.

She said: “Jura is currently a vibrant and thriving community, but this is fragile with many at risk of losing their accommodation.”

While Ms Ferrand has repeatedly proposed affordable accommodation for the site, concerns have been raised there are no guarantees on how this will be secured. Resistance to properties being used for holiday lets was noted in several objections. The council suggested a 25 per cent quota of affordable housing written in to the scheme.

Ms Ferrand said: “We are 100 per cent not sure what way we are going forward as getting permission in principle has just literally happened. Our plan is we won’t be doing holiday homes, that is 100 per cent something we are not doing. We have to look at the monetary value of this as well because there has been a huge cost to us.

“We have to get advice from others who have done this in different parts of Scotland. That is the next stage.

"Jura has been changing like everywhere else. Population has been growing. The distillery bought my house, have bought other houses as they didn’t have anywhere for the staff I believe there are people who would love to move to Jura, they would love to retire here. We perhaps will look at a mixed development, but you also want to give your bit back to the island.”