Three staff houses could be built under plans lodged with Highland Council.
Difficulties recruiting staff have sparked an expanding companyâs plans for employee houses.
Plans have been submitted to Highland Council to build three houses on land next to the public road at Muir of Allangrange. The exact site would be 70 metres south-west of Marsden Muir.
If approved the three houses would be for use by staff at Holly House Hire Ltd (HHH), which is a commercial vehicle engineering, hire and sales business based at Tomich Industrial Estate in Muir of Ord, just five minutes away by car.
In a supporting statement, the company said the proposal was a direct response to difficulties it has had in recruiting new employees.
It said: âThe proposed houses will be for staff at HHH Ltd. Currently HHH are advertising for three permanent staff but have had recruitment issues which are consistently due to accommodation and travel costs in the area.
âThe proposed houses would be tied to staff use and be a five minute drive from site to work premises at Tomich Industrial Estate. The business is expanding with commercial vehicles coming from across the Highlands and Islands for servicing and MOT testing.â
The planned houses would be located on vacant open land between three existing houses and out buildings. They would be accessed via a new shared junction with the passing road. This new access would also be shared by croft land to the rear of the houses, with that croftâs existing road access then closed off.
The company added: âThe application site is within the âhinterlandâ area as defined by the Highland Wide Local Development Plan, however, it is situated between three existing houses and out-buildings and as such could be considered as infill development.
âA mix of planting is proposed along the north boundary which will help tie the frontage of the proposed house sites with the existing properties to east and west.
âThe existing line of planting terminates with mature pine trees at the edge of the east and west properties nearby.
âThe proposed access is shown positioned clear of the existing rowan trees on the north boundary of the site and will provide good visibility in both directions along the public road.â
The planning application is for âpermission in principleâ, meaning that a full application will also need to be lodged and approved before any construction can begin. Specific details about the layout of the planned houses would be included in that later application.
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