Toilet house bid poo- pooed by councillors
A plan to transform Troon public toilets into a B& B has been panned by residents.
The Templehill block sits on land donated to the people by the Duke of Portland for a clothes drying green.
Firm C& C White wants to convert it into a house.
Applicant Alexander White said attempts to renovate the shut- down loos for different businesses have failed so far.
He said: “I’m left with a disused building.”
He told the South Ayrshire Council regulatory panel planning meeting he intended to run it as an Airbnb business.
Mr White said the lease lasts for 175 years.
Resident Fiona Girvan, of Garden Place, said: “I feel the land was given to the people of Troon.
“For many years as a child I enjoyed the land and used to play on it.”
She pointed out the “toilet was in keeping with what the Duke of Portland wanted”.
Objector Ian Girvan said conversion of the toilets into a residential property would not meet the conditions on which the land was gifted.
Troon Community Council was also among the objectors.
Responding to concerns, Mr White said he was in a “quandary.”
He pointed out there are 17 empty shops in Troon and said he had no plans to extend the former toilet block footprint. He said his proposal gives a solution for the use of “what will become a dilapidated eyesore in Templehill”.
Councillor Peter Convery said: “I feel for the gentleman. I think he is in a tricky place, especially with a lease for that amount of time, but I can’t agree with that.”
Planning officer Michael McClelland said the proposal was “unacceptable in planning terms”.
Officers recommended refusal of the bid and pointed out it is contrary to the local development plan policy.
Councillors refused the planning application to change the premises into a house.
Previously there was a bid to transform it into a cycle shop.