- A Scottish village and castle estate are being transformed into a luxury community.
- Thousands of locals are protesting the US company behind the development.
Thousands of locals are protesting a US developer's plans to transform a Scottish village into a playground for the ultrawealthy.
But the development firm says the string of properties it purchased in Kenmore, a village in central Scotland's Perthshire, won't be gated or completely closed to the public. The firm adds that it's helping create jobs and reopen businesses.
The firm behind the project is Discovery Land Co., one of the largest resort-community developers in the US, CSQ reported in 2020. The company has 31 luxury residential communities — referred to as "worlds" on its website — built or in development around the globe.
For its latest "world," Discovery Land is converting the previously abandoned Taymouth Castle into a private clubhouse with a golf course, the May issue of the developer's DL magazine said.
Plans for the clubhouse include a restaurant, equestrian center, two spas, and hundreds of residential properties on the castle grounds, according to Taymouth Castle's website.
Parts of the castle estate date to the 18th century, according to Historic Environment Scotland. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert famously visited in September 1842; the monarch described the estate to her uncle King Leopold I of Belgium as "enchanting" and "princely," according to an excerpt from the royal archives shared by the Royal Collection Trust.
It had many functions before it was left vacant in recent years, serving as a hotel in 1929 before being converted into a World War II hospital, a school in the 1950s, and a golf course, according to Historic Environment Scotland.
In addition to the castle, Discovery Land says on its website that it has acquired properties in Kenmore, including residential cottages, and businesses such as a shop, the post office, and Kenmore Hotel, all of which have been closed since 2022, the Daily Record reported at the time. It has also bought the nearby Glenlyon Farmhouse, a 7,000-acre estate in Tay Forest Park, with plans to convert it into a sports club for fishing and stag hunting, DL magazine said.
The announcement set off a furor.
'Protect Loch Tay'
Two Loch Tay residents, Rob Jamieson and Ingrid Shield, started a petition in June titled Protect Loch Tay against further Discovery Land development. More than 154,400 people had signed it as of Tuesday.
"The developers are a group of American billionaires who specialize in exclusive gated 'worlds' for the super rich," part of the petition says. "This is not what Scotland is about."
Discovery Land's developments are all private communities known for their luxury properties and members-only amenities such as golf courses and spas. They appear to be mostly in the US, with Florida and New York being popular locations, its website shows. There are also international developments, including in Canada, the Caribbean, and Portugal, according to its website.
In January 2016, Mike Meldman, the firm's founder, told The Wall Street Journal the properties within these communities ranged in price between $1 million and $50 million. Many of these properties have been snapped up by the rich and famous, including Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Reese Witherspoon, and Bill Gates, Insider previously reported.
Jamieson and Shield told Insider they were concerned about the economic impact of the development and Discovery Land's marketing strategy.
Shield said she moved to Kenmore just over a year ago and that she had family ties to Loch Tay that dated to the 1970s.
"It's like a jewel," Shield said of the area. "It's a gorgeous place, and the thought of it turning into a water-sports park is pretty horrifying, actually."
Jamieson has lived in the nearby village of Killin for five years and runs a taxi company and a salmon-fishing company in Kenmore. He said Kenmore had "come to a halt" since Discovery Land purchased multiple local businesses that hadn't reopened to the public. The pair added that they're worried about the environmental impact the development could have on the area.
"Wildlife, some of which is already under threat, for example, three species of Lamprey, Otters, and the Atlantic Salmon, may be displaced, and more mature woodland cleared," the petition says. "Ospreys and Divers could easily be driven away creating a wildlife desert."
Despite the petition, plans have continued. On July 27, about 300 people showed up to a town meeting, "likely the most heavily attended gathering of this sort" in the area's recent history, John Swinney, a former deputy first minister of Scotland who serves as a member of the Scottish Parliament representing Perthshire North, said. The venue had to be changed at the last minute because there weren't enough seats, the Daily Record reported.
Discovery Land says it won't turn the Taymouth estate into a gated community
Discovery Land has no plans to turn Kenmore into a private gated community, said a press release issued to Insider by Swinney and another politician, Pete Wishart, a UK member of Parliament in London representing Perth and North Perthshire. The village beach and car park, the politicians said, are set to be open to all residents, not just those living in Discovery Land's development.
A spokesperson for Discovery Land told Insider that while the castle was being converted to a clubhouse, it would host open days for locals, during which they could view the castle and play golf.
David O'Donoghue, the general manager of the Discovery Land-owned Taymouth Castle, posted a letter on X, formerly Twitter, to the Protect Loch Tay group that said there were no plans to turn the estate into a gated community.
"Due to construction and safety concerns, access to some parts of the area has been restricted and some of the areas that have been open to public access in the past are likely to change," O'Donoghue wrote in the letter.
"In short, Taymouth Estate will not be a gated community and the public will continue to have access to the beach and car park," he added.
"We intend to honor the spirit and letter of Scottish law regarding open access," a spokesperson for Discovery Land told Insider when asked to elaborate on public access to the area.
The Protect Loch Tay group say several properties purchased by Discovery Land in Kenmore are yet to reopen to the public. In a statement sent to Insider, Discovery Land said "quite the contrary" was true, as the company had plans to reopen the local shop in 2024 after it was closed by the previous owner.
Kenmore Hotel, which has been closed since 2022, the industry publication Hotel Scotland reported, is due to reopen in 2025 after "mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and fire safety elements caused for a more extensive redesign than possibly imagined," the spokesperson said.
Plans for a new village restaurant and pub are underway, the spokesperson said, adding that the project was in the planning stage and had created 200 jobs, with 90% of employees living in Scotland.
As for the wildlife, a Discovery Land spokesperson said its team was "committed to responsible development practices" and working with environmental experts as well as the council's planning department to ensure their work aligned with environmental and wildlife practices set out by Historic Environment Scotland.
The spokesperson added that some of Discovery Land's work in the area had benefited the environment, as it's working with an expert arboricultural engineer to "remove dead, dying, and potentially hazardous trees" on the castle grounds.
Not everyone in Kenmore agrees with the protest, but it will be years before plans come to fruition
Colin Morton, a spokesperson for the Kenmore and District Community Council, said in a press release sent to Insider that the Protect Loch Tay group's concerns were "based on misinformation, scaremongering and in some cases what seems like malicious conjecture."
"The castle, golf course and grounds, wonderful national as well as local assets, were in dire disrepair and in danger of being lost forever," Morton added. "That trend has now been reversed by the very significant investment being made."
While some people remain unhappy with Discovery Land's development plans, Swinney sees the company's public statements as a "first step" to rebuilding trust within the community, he said.
He said that it might help ease the minds of many locals who had grown "suspicious" of the development plans because of a previous lack of communication on Discovery Land's part.
It will be several years before the Kenmore development is completed. Time will tell if Discovery Land is the boogeyman townspeople fear or just another chapter in Taymouth Castle's long history.