Shannochie Post Office removal plan withdrawn
A planning application submitted two months ago for the demolition of the old Shannochie Post Office has been withdrawn.
The old post office, which is in a poor structural state, is between Kilmory and Bennan Head and in its heyday included the village’s general store and a public telephone box.
Once an Arran landmark, with its distinctive thatched roof and 19th century appearance, the post office shut in 1976 and was converted into a house.
Its thatched roof, last rethatched in 1969 by Jock Picken of Lenamhor, was removed in 1986, making it one of last post offices in Scotland to have a thatched roof.
Because of issues with the fabric of the building, its layout and access problems, the applicant – named as Mr M Sym in planning documents – had lodged plans to tear it down and use the space for a new four-bedroom house near the demolition site.
The application, first submitted in March, was then subject to the usual planning considerations and five homes within 20 metres of the site boundary were notified.
There were three objections, including from the Arran Civic Trust which said, in its view, such houses as the old post office were ripe for renovation and should not be demolished to make way for a modern house.
It added that the new house was too close to the road, over large for the site, too close to a hedge and ‘appears to be a house suitable for holiday lets’.
The house had recently been weather-proofed, it claimed, by a couple wanting to buy it but unable to fund the purchase and it would be ideal for a family wishing to make a home on Arran.
‘In the recent past Arran Civic Trust has proposed to the planners that small houses should be preserved, modernised and used for the community benefit,’ said the trust’s statement. ‘The cottage retains a historic value in this Arran locality, formerly the post office and the last thatched post office. ‘What a shame if it is demolished, replaced with yet another less characterless house, with little in the way of features to link it to the sense of place in the south end of Arran.’
A further objection to the application noted that the post box held historic significance, bearing the Royal cypher of Kind Edward VIII, who reigned for less than a year in 1936, and is most likely the only one remaining on Arran. The proposal was withdrawn by the applicant last week.