Residents of new flats beside an Arbroath theatre have been left in limbo after Angus Council blocked a retrospective planning bid for their homes.
A former children’s nursery beside the town’s Abbey Theatre was converted into four flats during lockdown.
But developer Mayara Agnes has now been told the flats break planning rules.
It comes after objections from a national theatre body and the council’s environmental health department.
They feared noise from productions including the Abbey Theatre panto could disturb folk living there.
The rear of the stage sits over one of the flats. The theatre workshop and other areas lie over three others.
The council says it’s “regrettable” residents will be impacted, but has slated the developer for building the flats without permission.
Planning history
The Abbot Street building was a children’s nursery but closed some time ago.
Angus architects A B Roger & Young said an application to bring it back into use was first lodged in 2019.
Noise concerns were flagged at that time.
As well as worries over noise from stage shows, there were fears over disturbance from set-building at the long-established Arbroath theatre.
But in February 2020 the developer lodged a building warrant application, believing the noise issues were close to being resolved.
This was approved but the project never received full planning permission.
The architects said: “The building warrant approval was issued two weeks after the first Covid-19 UK lockdown.
“Once it was realised lockdown was not going to be just a couple of weeks our then client made the decision to commence works on site.
“Being a small joinery business it would not have survived furloughing its employees.
“Instead he chose to have one man work on each of the flats which allowed the company to remain operational.”
The flats then sat empty for a year before residents moved in.
Application blocked
The Abbot Street application has now been refused by Angus officials under delegated powers.
In its handling report the council said: “It is regrettable that existing residents will be disadvantaged by the refusal of planning permission.
“But this situation has arisen because a developer has chosen to wilfully undertake development in the knowledge there were issues with the proposed use, and that the development was in breach of planning control.
“It is recognised that refusal of permission will have significant implications for those residents.
“But there is no evidence to demonstrate it would cause them great hardship in circumstances where there are other housing opportunities in the area.
“It is not in the public interest to allow new housing that does not provide an acceptable residential amenity because a developer has chosen to undertake works in breach of planning control.”
The applicant has the option of appealing the decision to the council’s development management review committee.
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