The couple who hope to stage Scotland’s biggest music festival in the grounds of their Perthshire estate have warned that rejecting the event would be a major blow to the local economy.
Jamie and Debs Roberts, who own part of the 1,600-acre Strathallan site, near Auchterarder, spoke out after plans for this summer’s T in the Park came under fire from environmental groups.
Mr and Mrs Roberts, whose family have owned most of the estate for more than a century, have been in talks with festival promoters DF Concerts about hosting the event for nearly four years.
The move still hinges on winning planning consent.
The Roberts, both organic farmers, said they are confident the show will go ahead, despite fierce opposition from some who claim it will have a damaging impact on roads and wildlife.
But the Strathallan T Action Group, an organisation formed to fight the relocation plan, accused the couple of being “more interested in money than the wildlife”.
The Roberts, who have two teenage children, went on a fact-finding mission to T in the Park last year, mainly to check out the clear-up operation afterwards.
Mrs Roberts, 43, said: “I never thought it would be quite as thorough as it actually was, but they did a great job. The site was left really clean. I felt really comfortable about things after seeing that.”
She said she was never put off by the scale of the event.
“One thing that has really surprised us is the support we’ve received, whether it’s when we’re walking up Auchterarder High Street, getting phone calls, people coming to our door or even through social media it’s all been very positive and that has been very encouraging. We have not had one negative comment made to us.”
Mr Roberts, 43, said he was “saddened” that ospreys on the site had been used as a “tool” by opponents.
“They were the area’s best kept secret,” he said.
“SNH and RSPB are policing the situation and have said the measures that have been taken (to dissuade the birds from nesting at the festival site) are the right ones.”
He added: “The revenue that will be brought in will future-proof the estate. There was an opportunity there for a different income stream and we would be naive not to consider it.”
Mrs Roberts added: “What we want to see are these benefits spreading through the community, not just on the estate. It will be such a significant cash injection that you won’t see such a vibrant rural impact in any other situation and how can we deny ourselves the chance to investigate that. It would be remiss of us not to do that.”
She said that local guest houses were already fully booked, demonstrating a market for new visitor accommodation.
Mr Roberts added: “I was chatting to a local girl who runs a gym in Auchterarder and she said she wasn’t going to make any money directly from T in the Park, but it will raise the profile of the town and brings more people in and therefore the opportunity is there for the business to grow.”
An all-important decision on planning consent is likely to be made next month.