The point where a sustainable community becomes fragile is a very fine one. The local community was thrilled recently to discover that the Glendaruel hotel had finally been sold, not to a developer it seemed, but to a family – a family moreover which was moving to the glen and therefore bound, in local opinion, to re-open the place as a fully functioning commercial operation.

A few weeks down the line, and things are not seeming so straight-forward.

The new owners not been much in evidence – the boards which were installed over the ground floor windows have not been removed; nor has the Hotel’s modest garden been maintained.

More worryingly for locals who like a pint or two of an evening, the one change which has been made is that all the barstools previously resident in the bar are now piled unceremoniously at the rear outside, exposed to the elements.

As time progresses the new owners’ lack of intention to re-open perforce is becoming clearer to observers. Moreover, the lack of any direct contact with local concerned organisations is indicative.

The last Colintraive and Glendaruel Community Council discussed the matter. It was decided that a letter should be sent to the handling agents and the planning department expressing the community’s desire for a licenced bar to be a continuing feature of the hotel; and that any change of use proposal would be strenuously opposed.

After over a year and a half without a hotel, it is now clear how badly the lack of bar, restaurant and accommodation has hit the community, particularly Glendaruel.

• Accommodation providers complain that they have seen significant fall-off in bookings after last year when there were complaints that there was nowhere local (ie within walking distance) to eat or drink.
• The Cowal Way which was in the habit of centring its annual Cowal Way Open Day at the hotel, has not held the event for two years.
• The lack of the hotel has affected adversely the number of walkers visiting the locality and using the 57-mile-long walk.
• The financial loss is also affecting the local shinty side as well: with no local hostelry to cater for visiting sides, the ground at the Clachan is no longer used to host Camanachd Cup games – a small but significant revenue stream for a club which struggles to maintain pecuniary momentum year-in year-out.

If the owners decide they will not be running the building as a hotel, it has been confirmed by the local Planning Department in Dunoon that they will require planning consent for any change of use.

Obtaining such consent, given the sentiment locally -  and the vested interest, is likely to be found to be a difficult and expensive business.

It does seem sad that the hotel isn’t able to take full advantage of newly realised commercial opportunities:

• being home to the Tallest Tree in the UK, the Stronardron Douglas Fir
• being the place chosen to launch the new Cowal Way Book

Rural communities are utterly vunerable to the impact of losing a key and single local resource. The Isle of Colonsay sufferd socially when its hotel was suddenly closed one Christmas, leaving the isalnd without a bar. Furnace in Mid Argyll had no pub for over a year when its previous owner died suddenly and its sale to a new owner became a protracted business. Ellenabeich and Easdale Island faced the threat of the only hotel being turned into a private house.

At a stroke, communities can be left without a social hub, with no place for informal, unplanned get togethers. This can rip the cohesion from small rural communities as well as destabilising their always uncertain economic sustainability.

Planners must be perenially sensitive to such issues.

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