Bookmakers Ladbrokes has cleared another hurdle in its bid for a Brechin town centre betting office.
In a move that could signal the death knell of community hub conversion plans for the former Dalhousie Bar, Angus development standards committee councillors voted through a change of use application for the building on the corner of Market Street and St David Street.
The approval came after an impassioned plea from Brechin Community Council and elected member Mairi Evans not to allow the empty pub to be turned into a bookies.
Ladbrokes still has to obtain listed building consent for internal alterations that would result in the removal of the old horseshoe bar, a feature community council chairman Grahame Lockhart said was worth saving.
He said: “One of the things we have been looking at is buying the Dalhousie Bar and opening it as a community hub, and we would retain the horseshoe bar which is one of the last in Scotland.”
But he admitted the group had been told by selling agents the betting firm already have an intention to buy the property, and officials reminded the committee that if they blocked a change of use to Class 2 then that would also prohibit a community hub role.
Ms Evans said: “I have serious concerns and reservations about this proposal and the knock-on effects this would have on the historic heart of Brechin.
“It’s about our judgment and we need to do what we think is the best thing for our community.”
Montrose councillor Bill Duff said: “I think this application is, frankly, vandalism.”
Committee convener Rob Murray, in moving approval of the change of use and advertising sign applications, said many objector issues, including the moral question of having a bookies on the High Street, were not legitimate planning points.
“The aspiration to purchase the building (for a community hub) is nothing to do with this application and the interior which I would certainly like to see retained is not before us today.
“If we don’t agree this it has to remain as a pub and the building will probably stand empty forever.”