New flats proposal for church

JUDITH TONNER

Plans have been officially submitted for the “substantial demolition” and residential redevelopment of a long-derelict church in Coatbridge.

An application has been made by site owners Neat Earth Ltd to construct 44 flats at the site of the B-listed Dundyvan Church on Oxford Street, knocking down the ruined building but retaining its landmark tower and porch facade on Henderson Street.

It would see most of the fire- damaged church being torn down, along with its manse; while the tower and gable would then be incorporated into a four-storey residential development consisting of two blocks of flats with landscaping and 40 parking spaces.

The proposal – including applications for both planning and listed building consent – is the latest instalment in a long-running story of increasing disrepair at the 114-yearold church.

Plans to convert the red standstone building into flats were approved 15 years ago but did not go ahead; the roof was then destroyed by a series of fires in 2007, and subsequent applications for residential conversion, then a full demolition and site clearance, were respectively refused and withdrawn.

The current application papers state that the former church and manse are “in ruinous condition” with the roof, gallery and floor having collapsed, windows missing and stonework being in poor condition in some areas.

In response to the application form question of why demolition is proposed, the developers state: “It is not economically viable to repair and reuse the building.”

News of the submitted proposal has been welcomed by Coatbridge West councillor Geraldine Woods, who told the Advertiser in July how she had been “inundated by requests for something to be done” about the site.

She described it as an “eyesore” and a “top priority” after two decades of deterioration at the former church, which has attracted vandalism and fly-tipping.

Councillor Woods said this week: “I’m delighted that after extensive negotiations, a planning application has now been submitted to the council for this badlyneeded redevelopment to go ahead.

“For decades, this magnificent former church has been left to decay; its renovation will tackle a number of important problems at the same time and preserve the church’s proud history.

“Public safety, vandalism and fly-tipping are all real concerns with the building in its current state, and I will continue to push hard to secure a date for this application to be heard and for a successful outcome for the many local residents who have raised this with me.”

Designed by architect Alexander Cullen, the church has a prominent crown spire which is a distinctive focal point on the Coatbridge skyline; it is listed on the online “buildings at risk” register for Scotland where its condition is described as “very poor”, and its “category of risk” as high.

The opening entry in the site’s development history section dates back nearly a quarter of a century, with the then-local authority of Monklands District Council securing doorways and windows in an attempt to prevent unauthorised entry and vandalism as long ago as November 1995.

A council spokesperson: “A full planning application and an application for listed building consent have been received in relation to the former Dundyvan Church.

“These are currently being considered by the planning service; neighbour notifications have been issued and an advert will appear in the Advertiser.”