Highland Council has objected to proposals to build a new 17-room house on a Wester Ross estate due to a “medium to high” flooding risk.
Smech Management Limited had submitted the plans for a new mansion for guests to use on the Inverinate Estate in Kyle on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.
The billionaire ruler, who is also the vice-president and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, owns the 63,000 acre estate.
He wants to build a new mansion next to his existing Highland home at Benula Lodge on the banks of Loch Duich.
According to planning documents, this has been motivated by a need for more accommodation for his large family, with the Emirati thought to have around 30 children and six wives.
However, proposals for a third Highland home have been temporarily objected to by the Highland Council after it identified a “medium to high” flood risk associated with a new property.
In planning documents, agents said: “The owners of Inverinate Estate typically travel in large groups of immediate and extended family and friends. In recent years their travel to Inverinate has been limited by lack of accommodation.
“Additional staff accommodation was completed in 2017 to create infrastructure that would support greater use of the estate by the owner and this new application seeks to create residential accommodation for the use of the owners, their family and their guests in order they may enjoy more frequent and extended visits to Inverinate.”
The 74-year-old had his second of three mansions built on the site in 2021, which is just south of the A87 road, adding to a 16-bed hunting lodge that was already under his ownership.
These new proposals would see accommodation built on the ground beside Benula Lodge, a 17-bedroom house, which was finished in 2021 and reportedly cost £2.4 million.
However, in a document published on December 6, Highland Council’s Flood Risk Management (FRM) Team said: “As the flood risk from the watercourse is not clear, the FRM Team must object to the proposals on the grounds of a lack of flood risk information.
“Desktop mapping shows a watercourse descending from the high ground to the north
of the site before terminating approximately 30m from the site boundary.
“It is likely that this watercourse enters a culvert. The watercourse and culvert may pose a flood risk to the proposed building.”
This latest building would be constructed on land 45 metres east of the Sheikh’s existing Benula Lodge property, with permission also needed to move its gas tanks to provide more space.
The new 17-room building would provide guests with views over Loch Duich and include a 35 square metre dining room and 57 square metre living room.
It would also include a plant room, store and two skylights on the roof, with the planning proposal for the accommodation remaining under consideration.