South Lanarkshire councillors have delayed a decision on plans to transform a vacant Lesmahagow pub and hotel into four homes.
Proposals to convert the former Masons Arms Hotel in Abbeygreen into two houses and two flats have been continued for further consideration by South Lanarkshire Council’s Planning Local Review Body.
Application history
The application by The Glendevon Group Ltd was previously refused by council planning officers, with concerns raised over parking, access and the amount of natural light available to one of the proposed flats.
The developer asked for the refusal to be reviewed and councillors considered the case at a meeting this morning (August 10), but have now continued the application rather than making a final decision.
Proposed development
The plans would see the vacant former pub and hotel being converted into four properties: two three-bedroom terraced houses, a three-bedroom upper floor flat and a two-bedroom ground floor flat.
The council does not object in principle to the building being converted into residential accommodation. A planning officer’s report said the former premises had been vacant for some time and that reopening it as a pub or hotel was considered unviable due to changing consumer habits and market conditions.
The report said that residential use was an appropriate use for the town centre site and that bringing the building back into productive use would be “generally beneficial”.
Concerns raised
However, officers raised a number of concerns about the proposed layout. One of the biggest issues is parking; no dedicated parking spaces are included in the plans, despite the council’s Roads Development Team stating that four homes would normally require eight spaces.
The council said this could potentially be reduced to five spaces based on car ownership data for Lesmahagow, but raised concerns that nearby public car parks are already busy and may not have sufficient capacity to accommodate additional residential parking demand.
The proposed access arrangements for the two flats have also been criticised. The ground floor flat would be accessed through the rear courtyard, past a proposed bin store, while the upper-floor flat would be accessed via an existing emergency exit and through the bin store of an adjoining flatted development.
And due to differences in ground levels around the site and the close proximity of neighbouring development, planning officers raised concerns over the ground floor flat, stating that the property would receive very little natural light.
Refusal and next steps
The application was formally refused in March on six grounds, covering the natural light and amenity of the lower flat, the access arrangements for both flats and the lack of parking. The refusal cited policies within the National Planning Framework 4 and South Lanarkshire Local Development Plan 2.
Despite this, the council’s planning report stated that the principle of converting the former pub and hotel into homes was acceptable. There were also no objections from Scottish Water or Environmental Services during the original planning process. No objections, letters of support or other comments were received during the original consultation.
The Planning Local Review Body’s decision to continue the case means the original refusal remains in place for now, but councillors have not yet made a final decision on whether to uphold or overturn it. The case is expected to return to the Planning Local Review Body for further consideration.
The council previously told the applicant that an amended application could be submitted within a year of the refusal without another planning fee, provided it is of the same character or description as the refused proposal.
