Owners of the Fetternear Estate, near Kemnay, in Scotland have submitted an outline planning application for a mixed-use development and the restoration of Bishops Palace to Aberdeenshire Council.

The plans to redevelop disused farm land and restore the listed building, built in 1329, in collaboration with Scottish Heritage, have been created in partnership with Hardie Planning Consultancy and Leslie F Hunter Chartered Architects. If approved, the site will host a 2,127sq m (22, 894sq ft) leisure centre with a 25m, six-lane swimming pool and a learner pool, a fitness studio, sports shop, a café and meeting rooms.

There will also be a 161sq m (1,733sq ft) visitor centre offering offices, exhibition space and a café along with a business centre, an exhibition and conference venue and 77 houses. Also included in the proposal are allotment gardens and a cyclist and pedestrian bridge across the Don River linking Kemnay to the estate. Fetternear used to be used as a Summer palace of the Bishops of Aberdeen between the 12th and 16th century, but a fire in 1919 left it in ruins. The Fetternear Trust, which is in charge of preserving the historical and cultural heritage around the ruins for the benefit of the public, needs to raise £600,000 in order to make the building available for public access.