INVESTIGATIONS by a government agency are to probe the waiver of a loan of almost £2m made in relation to the development of an eco-village on the outskirts of Cumnock.

It has emerged that the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation (PWCF), has written off more than £1.71m, paid to Dumfries Farming and Land Limited (DFLL), which was created to make the Duke of Rothesay’s dream at Knockroon a reality.

Now the Charities Commission have contacted the foundation to clarify ‘the basis on which the loan was waived’ in the latest of a series of setbacks to hit the project which has built just 31 houses in five years.

When it was unveiled in a blaze of publicity, Knockroon was to comprise 770 houses, 330 of which were to have been built by 2017, after the land was bought in 2007 by PWCF as part of the deal to take ownership of Dumfries House.

More than 1,200 attended an open day when potential buyers viewed one of the properties in October 2011, when the Chronicle was given a sneak preview of the development.

A spokesman for the foundation told us then: “There’ll be greenspaces and parks for people to sit and interact with neighbours. And the narrow roads will slow drivers down and make it safer for children to play on the streets.

“The homes are intended to be sustainable with every building housing a bat house, invertebrate and hedgehog hotel, drum. And gardens will include their very own compost bunker and rainwater drum and dedicated vegetable plots, herb gardens for foodies and gardeners.”

However, five years on, just 31 houses have been built, with less than half of them owned privately while 10 have been bought by an investment company called Havisham Properties.

Meanwhile, six houses have been purchased by The Great Steward of Scotland’s Dumfries House Trust (TGSSDHT), the charity responsible for the wider development at Dumfries House.

Several of these have been rented out to staff, with the remaining 15 owned by members of the public, while a legal dispute led to the main housebuilder, Hope Homes, withdrawing from the venture last year.

Public outrage has also led to severe criticism of the project from some members of the community already angry at the proposed superschool campus nearby.

Ruth Shipstone, from Skares, said: “It appears then that Prince Charles’ pet project is in debt and many of the houses that have been sold have been sold off to private interests who would benefit immensely if Knockroon became profitable.

“Coincidentally, the council have decided to build the new school just down the road from Knockroon, and start to make noises about opening a railway station on the Rigg Road, only a few minutes away from the project.

“This looks to me as the death knell for Cumnock town centre and a renaissance in profitability for Knockroon. I have also noticed that Dumfries House appears to have absorbed the Boswell Book Festival, despite Auchinleck House being virtually next door and the ancestral pile of the Boswell family.

“Dumfries House is also looking to take over the Cumnock Highland Games, which will have no home when the bulldozers move onto Broomfield. Cumnock Farmers Market has closed, and popped up in the grounds of Dumfries House.

“The Royal involvement is beginning to look as if it is sapping what little life there is left in the area, rather than promoting and benefiting it.

“Until a couple of years ago, there were Otters in the river at Broomfields. Of course, they could have been a problem for anyone wishing to develop on Broomfields, but happily they all appear to have moved on. Maybe they have gone to Dumfries House as everyone else appears to have done?”

While a regular visitor at Dumfries House, it is understood that Prince Charles has visited Knockroon just twice, and hasn’t been there since January 2012, but his foundation say there is no crisis.

A spokesman for PWCF said: “The aim of the Knockroon project is to build a thriving community in one of the more disadvantaged areas of the UK.

“The project was designed to be realised over several decades with Hope Homes playing a crucial part in turning the initial vision into a reality.

“Despite the tough economic conditions which have impacted the housing market since the project began, all 31 homes built so far are currently occupied with more to come.

“Having donated the company that owns the land to the Dumfries House Trust, the next stage of the project is under way and is being delivered by a new company established under the Dumfries House Trust – the Dumfries House Development and Training Company.”