Demolition of Jimmy Savile's former cottage in Glencoe delayed

Plans to demolish a fire-damaged Glencoe cottage once owned by Jimmy Savile have stalled.

The Highland Council planning committee approved plans to demolish and replace the home with a contemporary house in June 2024.

Work to tear down the property began in March last year but has yet to be completed while the new owner awaits a building warrant.

Savile, a prolific sex offender, owned Allt-Na-Reigh beside the A82 Fort William to Glasgow road for around 13 years.

Since his death in 2011, the cottage has been vandalised several times including being damaged by a fire.

Scottish entrepreneur Harris Aslam bought the site with the intention of creating a three-bedroom family home.

A spokesperson for Mr Aslam said work to demolish the property cannot begin until a building warrant and other approvals are issued, but that he remains committed to completing the project.

They said: “The site is subject to an approved planning consent, however works cannot fully commence until a building warrant and other necessary approvals are fully issued.

“This has taken longer than expected due to the challenging nature of the site, including its topography, access and the technical requirements involved in building in this location.

“In the meantime, steps have been taken to make the site safe and to prevent any risk to the public, and we remain in ongoing contact with the relevant authorities as the process moves forward.”

The proposed redevelopment includes honouring another of the cottage’s former owners, Dr Hamish MacInnes.

Dr MacInnes, who died in 2020, was a Scottish mountaineer, explorer, mountain search and rescuer described as the “father of modern mountain rescue in Scotland”.

Outbuildings where he invented the famous equipment are to be redeveloped as an ancillary dwelling and named Hamish House.