IT is one of the remotest parts of the long distance North Coast 500 and has gradually seen amenities closed as locals move away.
But a billionaire has just unveiled plans to breathe life back into the village of Tongue with plans to create a commercial and community hub complete with its own brewery.
Danish clothing tycoon Anders Hoch Povlsen’s company wants to revitalise the area on the A838 at Tongue with services that have been “lost” to the community, as well as meet growing tourist demand.
An accompanying document attached to the planning application even shows people practising yoga and also enjoying live music in a new events area.
The spot dates back to the early 1900s with a general store, tea rooms and garage.
By the 1930s it had become famous locally for its bakery, tea room, public transport and haulage enterprise, then was transformed into Burr’s Stores under the ownership of Peter Burr.
It is now home to the community’s Spar store and filling station, while the remaining historic buildings have become derelict.
In an effort to restore the area to its former glory, developer Ben Loyal Ltd for Wildland Ltd – owned by Mr Povlsen – has outlined proposals to transform the “village” into a vibrant destination for locals and visitors alike, while maintaining its historic character.
Stated within the full planning application, lodged with Highland Council, the developers outline plans to meet a growing demand for facilities following an influx of tourists venturing to the north, while offering “new and diverse” functions to complement the existing businesses in Tongue.
The developers state: “The proposal is for the renewal of an existing commercial site with business, services, community, tourist, retail, accommodation and food and drink facilities.
“The proposals will return previously lost services to the community and a level of expansion appropriate for the growth of local tourism in the Highlands area.”
If approved, the project will consist of a range of amenities including a restaurant, bakehouse, stonecutters, shop, events space, accommodation for both staff and visitors, new fuel pumps and a microbrewery.
The developers pledge to retain and restore several buildings on the site, including the Bakehouse, the Stonecutter’s shed and Dunvarich House – which will form the focal point of the development – along with the construction of several new buildings.
A spokesman for Wildland said: “These plans remain at a very early stage. We look forward to progressing these plans in due course.”
Mr Povlsen has been behind many new developments in the area, where he owns several estates.
A celebration was recently held to mark the restoration by the billionaire of a historic North Coast church, which had become an eyesore on Scotland’s answer to America’s Route 66.
Wildland Ltd undertook a full restoration of Eriboll Church in Sutherland, costing “six figures”.
The church is on the 18,000 acre Eriboll Estate owned by Mr Povlsen, who is Scotland’s largest private landowner. Mr Povlsen, who owns the retailer Bestseller, is said to be worth nearly £7 billion.
He and his wife Anne tragically lost three of their four children in the Sri Lanka Easter bombings in 2019.
They have already put a lot of investment into their estates, including around Tongue where they have created a luxury hotel out of a former manse and repaired the ancient Castle Varrich ruin, which overlooks the village.
The couple will invest millions over the next three years alone on re-wilding projects across their estates, with the promise of further investment in what they consider to be a 200-year project.
A spokesman for Wildland Ventures said: “These plans are at a very early stage and we look forward to sharing more details soon”.
Mr Povlsen owns around 220,000 acres across 12 estates in the Highlands.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here