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Empty Inglis Court sheltered housing site will be blot on Edzell landscape for at least FOUR more years

Locals fought to save Inglis Court sheltered housing complex but it was bulldozed to make way for new council houses that won't now be built before 2027 at the earliest.

Inveresk Community Council chairman Gus Leighton at the fenced off Inglis Court site.
Inveresk Community Council chairman Gus Leighton at the fenced off Inglis Court site. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

Edzell’s former Inglis Court sheltered housing site could remain a weed-infested wilderness for another four years.

The 25-flat complex was bulldozed last year after locals lost a battle to convince Angus Council to drop a plan to replace it with 21 affordable homes.

They said the housing – which had £600,000 spent on it over the previous decade – was still good quality.

Inglis Court Edzell site.
The sheltered housing complex was cleared last year. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

750 locals signed a petition against the £3.5 million plan.

And a businessman offered the council £400k for the complex with plans to revamp it for social housing.

But the death knell sounded in November 2021 when councillors approved demolition.

Capital plan pressures

News the project has been bumped until at least 2026/27 has re-ignited local anger.

Angus Council say rocketing inflation in the construction industry has caused the delay.

The authority has also had to scale back its own building plans after giving tenants an under-inflation rent rise this year.

Inveresk Community Council chairman Gus Leighton says it’s a bitter blow to the community and folk who had been banking on a new home.

“Angus Council ignored a petition from the residents of Edzell, which had overwhelming support, to retain Inglis Court as sheltered housing,” he said.

Community council chairman Gus Leighton rallied locals at a public meeting outside Inglis Court in November 2021.
Community council chairman Gus Leighton rallied locals at a public meeting outside Inglis Court in November 2021. Image: Steve MacDougall/DCT Media

“They were then very quick to strip it out and demolish the building because of an urgent need for more council housing in North Angus.

“There was also a time factor involved to qualify the work to receive funding of several million pounds from the Scottish Government.

“Yet, the site has remained untouched since then.

“If Angus Council had held off dismantling this perfectly good building they could, for example, have housed refugees from the war in Ukraine, with a few minor adjustments to the building.

Residents Don Cameron (left) and Graham Wood with Inveresk community council chairman Gus Leighton (centre) at the site.
Residents Don Cameron (left) and Graham Wood with Inveresk community council chairman Gus Leighton (centre) at the site. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

“This would have had the support of Edzell and would also have come with some finance from Holyrood.

“Instead, there is a large patch of ground in the middle of Edzell which will be supporting only weeds for another four years or longer.”

Long grass

Brechin and Edzell councillor Jill Scott said “Inglis Court was a perfectly good building.

“It was also a happy home to many elderly people for a long time.

“When they had to leave it caused a lot of stress and upset.

“If we’d seen Inglis Court replaced with the promised affordable housing that would have at least been something.

“But it looks like this project is now in the long grass – probably beyond the term of the current council.

Inglis Court sheltered housing site in Edzell left undeveloped.
The Inglis Court site is already overgrown. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

“And it does nothing to ease the pressure on housing waiting lists in north Angus.

“That was the driver behind this flawed plan in the first place so I’m not happy we’re now in the situation that there’s going to be an empty eyesore site for the next four years at least.”

Council update on Inglis Court

Inglis Court is included in an update report on the council’s housing capital programme going to communities councillors on Tuesday.

A spokesperson said: “In February 2023, Angus Council’s communities committee approved a change to our new build programme which now anticipates development at Inglis Court in the financial year 2026/27.

“This change is due to the high rate of inflation particularly within the construction sector, combined by a significantly below inflation rent increase, which was applied to reflect the financial hardship being faced by many of our tenants.

“The project remains in the Strategic Housing Investment Plan which programmes Scottish Government grant funding over a five-year period.”

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