New design to replace Jimmy Savile cottage in Glen Coe

The new design for a family home at the Allt-na-Reigh site

The new design for a house to replace paedophile TV presenter Jimmy Savile's former Highland home has been revealed.

Savile, uncovered as one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders, owned Allt-na-Reigh cottage in Glen Coe from 1998 until his death in 2011.

It has been proposed to demolish the cottage and build a family home.

Previous plans for the site were withdrawn after concerns the design did not fit the character of the surrounding landscape.

The cottage sits among some of Scotland's most dramatic scenery, with views to the mountain Bidean nam Bian.

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Mountaineering groups, National Trust for Scotland and residents of nearby Glencoe village were among those who raised concerns.

The site's new owner is the family of Harris Aslam, boss of Kirkcaldy-based convenience stores business Greens Retail Ltd.

The newly submitted planning application is for a three-bedroom house.

In the planning documents, the project's architects do not mention Savile by name and only describe him as a "disgraced previous owner".

New plans have been submitted for the redevelopment of the cottage site

Architects said the cottage had attracted unwanted attention and had been vandalised.

They said the redevelopment of Allt-na-Reigh would include honouring another of the cottage's former owners - legendary Scottish climber and inventor Dr Hamish MacInnes.

Dr MacInnes, who died in 2020, invented ice axes and also a stretcher that is used by mountain rescue teams all over the world.

Architects said outbuildings where the climber worked on his creations would be redeveloped as an ancillary dwelling and named Hamish House.

They said this new home would be a symbol of the "positive effect" Dr MacInnes had on the site.

The planning application has still to go before Highland councillors for a decision.

Concerns were raised about an earlier design of a proposed new property

In a statement earlier this month, Mr Aslam said the new proposals would pay tribute to Dr MacInnes, whose mountaineering skills earned him the nickname the Fox of Glencoe.

Mr Aslam said: "This really is an incredibly exclusive property and presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to develop something we can all be very proud of as adorers of the Glen Coe valley and as proud Scots.

"We often forget the truly life-changing inventions which mountaineering legend Hamish MacInnes created in the outbuilding on site, including the Pterodactyl ice-axe, and the eponymous MacInnes stretcher used by mountain rescue teams worldwide.

"Accordingly, intending to pay homage to Hamish, it gives us great pride to propose the outbuilding to be named Hamish House along with a commemorative plaque to be installed on-site to honour these great achievements."

Savile's abuse was thought to have begun in the mid-1940s, when he was in his late teens or early 20s, and lasted until 2009, two years before his death.

The Dame Janet Smith review identified 72 victims of Savile in connection with his work at the BBC, including eight who were raped. Eleven of his victims were younger than 12 years old.

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