Perthshire’s award-winning Wasted Degrees brewery is returning to Pitlochry after councillors approved its plans for a new production base and taproom in the town.
Perth and Kinross Council’s planning committee unanimously approved the firm’s £500,000 proposal at a meeting on June 5.
Wasted Degrees boss Jack Low told councillors the new brewery – on a woodland site to the south of Ferry Road, Pitlochry – will mean a homecoming for him and brother Conall.
Wasted Degrees Brewing started in their parents’ garage in Pitlochry in 2016.
Since 2019, it has been based in Blair Atholl, where the brothers produce 25,000 litres of beer per month for sale to 13 countries.
The plan is for a modern timber and aluminium building in Pitlochry.
It will feature a brew hall, a taproom serving food and drink for up to 96 people, a small shop and outdoor seating.
Speaking previously to The Courier, Conall Low said he and Jack were keen to “invest back into Pitlochry” and create jobs in the town.
Addressing the planning committee on Wednesday, Jack said the pair were determined to do right by the town where they grew up, and where he is raising his own family.
“We have skin in the game here,” he said.
“This matters not just from a business perspective, but from a personal perspective.”
Wasted Degrees Brewing could boost Pitlochry economy
The brewery will operate from 8am-4pm, and the taproom from 11am-10pm Tuesday-Sunday.
The site is about 50m from Pitlochry Community Hospital and Balhousie Pitlochry Care Home.
The application to Perth and Kinross Council attracted six objections and 22 letters of support.
The Atholl Medical Centre urged planners to note the ambulance depot at the hospital requires 24/7 access.
Councillors also heard from a neighbours’ spokeswoman, who raised concerns about the potential for disturbance for homes and nearby medical sites.
But the committee went along with the recommendation of planners to approve the application on Wednesday.
Permission will be subject to a series of conditions around areas such as road safety and disturbance.
No music will be allowed in the outdoor seating area. And Wasted Degrees will have to take steps to prevent the spread of disease during the removal of dead trees from the site.
The planners’ report said: ” This is a successful local business seeking to grow and
invest in Pitlochry with multi-faceted economic and social benefits for the town.
“The issues raised in the letters of objection have been fully considered and
addressed in the report and are not of sufficient weight to justify the refusal of the
planning application.”
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