Angus planners have served up an approval for plans to turn an empty Montrose bank into a Chinese restaurant.
The former RBS branch at 101 High Street closed in 2018.
But now a local businesswoman has been given permission to convert the 158-year-old listed building into the Century House restaurant.
It will have seating for almost 90 people.
And Xia Xia He plans to convert the three floors above the old branch into a conservation area house.
Delegated decision
The application for planning permission and listed building consent received delegated approval from Angus Council planning officials.
They said it would bring a prominent building back into suitable use.
And officials dismissed an objection from a rival restaurant nearby.
They said: “Concern was noted in relation to impacts on existing similar businesses within the town.
“However, commercial competition is not a material planning consideration.
“The proposed use will result in some additional noise and activity above the level of the existing use but this is a town centre location and council policy seeks to direct this type of use to these locations.”
Conditions to regulate any odour have been attached to the planning permission.
The applicant says the restaurant will operate from 11am to 11pm.
Planners also imposed a condition that the property above it can only be lived in by someone involved in the business.
The 1864 building sits in the heart of the town centre, close to the historic Ballhouse.
The bank was B-listed in 1971.
After sitting empty following its closure, it went under the hammer at a property auction in 2021.
It’s thought to have been knocked down to a winning bidder for just over £150,000.
Bank branch closures
Montrose was one of a swathe of branches shut by RBS around 2018.
It also closed Pitlochry, Aberfeldy, Dundee Stobswell, Perth South Street and Comrie.
And other firms such as the Bank of Scotland and Santander axed outlets in other local towns.
Around a third of Tayside and Fife’s bank branches were closed in less than a decade.
It led to MPs claiming local communities were becoming “cash free against their will”.
Conversation