Glenmorangie Distillery lodges plans for new warehouses and other facilities at former military base near Fearn
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A full planning application has been lodged with Highland Council for the scheme, following on from outline proposals put forward last November.
The proposed development would be situated on land which formed part of Fearn Aerodrome, a military base from the 1940s to the 1970s.
As well as the whisky maturation warehouses, a cask filling and disgorging facility, associated tank farm, tanker filling bay, welfare facilities and a car park are all envisaged as part of the scheme.
Between 16 and 20 warehouses are planned, to be built over 10 years.
Developers believe the scheme would ultimately create nine full-time jobs.
In a supporting statement submitted as part of the planning application, they added: “The Glenmorangie Distillery is based nearby in Tain.
“Currently it utilises warehouses on site, however this Tain site is now at capacity and this development will safeguard their future growth in stock.”
Developers acknowledge that the proposal does not involve the creation of the most picturesque of buildings but add that this will be mitigated as far as possible.
“Unfortunately, what makes a good maturation environment, ie a dark ventilated space and the complex regulatory requirements, doesn’t easily lend itself to stimulating architecture,” they said.
“The proposals which locate the warehousing element to the north of the existing access road look to ultimately provide a mix of 16 racked and palletised warehouses over the next 10 years to meet the needs of the nearby Glenmorangie Distillery in Tain.
“These buildings functionally want to be and are treated essentially as large ‘boxes’. The concept accepts this and looks to keep them as simple and crisp as possible while exploring how the design of the spaces between the warehouses and the site edges can contribute to the maturation process itself but also create a design that contributes to the landscape positively.”
They added: “Generally, the landscape looks to soften and partly screen the warehouse element and exploit views in and out to the southern part of the site, where there is greater scope for developing the architecture.”
