PLANS for a temporary visitor centre for Islay’s newest and ninth distillery have been refused by Argyll and Bute Council.
The planning application, submitted by Hepburn Consulting, proposed turning a dilapidated barn at Ardnahoe Farmhouse near Port Askaig into an interim distillery visitors’ centre for two years, ‘giving sufficient time to build the new distillery and then transfer the visitor experience to the new building’.
Documents cited ‘numerous enquiries from groups, island tour guides and individuals looking to visit and view the project’. The centre includes retail and exhibit space but it is not the intention to attract more visitors to the site but to manage and safely control those who agree to visit.’