Bid to turn part of old Hawick hotel into joinery workshop rejected

A bid to convert part of a former Hawick hotel into a home for a joinery business has been rejected.
The annex to the old Buccleuch Hotel in Hawick's Trinity Street.The annex to the old Buccleuch Hotel in Hawick's Trinity Street.
The annex to the old Buccleuch Hotel in Hawick's Trinity Street.

Joiner Stephen Cranston wanted to change the use of an annex to the old Buccleuch Hotel in Trinity Street to house his business, currently based in the town’s Wilton Hill.

The bit of the former hotel he wanted to convert was the extension to its east once home to its public bar, guest bedrooms and a garage, as well as its rear car park.

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The main hotel building – run separately, as a restaurant and function room, from the application site from 2005 until its closure and in separate ownership – is said to be currently vacant, though approval to convert it into a family home was granted in March last year.

The old Buccleuch Hotel in Hawick's Trinity Street.The old Buccleuch Hotel in Hawick's Trinity Street.
The old Buccleuch Hotel in Hawick's Trinity Street.

Mr Cranston’s proposal was that the basement floor of the building would house a joinery workshop and covered store and that the car park serve as a storage yard.

He promised that efforts would be made to minimise noise and disruption to surrounding residents and businesses but also stressed the need to bring the building back into productive use to prevent it deteriorating further.

In his report justifying his refusal of that proposal under delegated powers, planning officer Stuart Herkes says the application is contrary to regulations, however.

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He writes: “Given that the property appears to be vacant at present, and given the close proximity to Hawick’s High Street and environs, I am content that there would be no unacceptable loss of any community facility in this case, given the close proximity of equivalent facilities and the ancillary nature of the section of the hotel premises concerned.

“While it is the case that the premises is vacant, and at risk of further deterioration if it prevails as a vacant premises, this in itself does not justify an approval of the current application where the proposal is otherwise contrary in principle to planning policy and there are potential impacts upon the residential amenity of surrounding properties.”

The Buccleuch Hotel opened in 1882 and closed in November 2015.

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