The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Planning will protect Town House extension
Welcome to Planning Ahead – our weekly round-up of the latest proposals lodged across the north-east.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that the ducts on the roof of Aberdeen’s Town House extension are in need of replacement.
It’s part of a package of proposals planned for the 1970s Broad Street building.
The scheme to replace its flat roof comes after “reports of leakage from above the council chamber”.
Engineers suggested it was probably coming from pipes or ducts.
As the building is listed via its connection to the historic Town House, permission is required before the replacement of the roof can begin.
Plans to demolish the old Minto House office complex in Aberdeen’s Altens industrial estate have now been endorsed by the council.
The scheme was detailed in Planning Ahead in September, with the local authority now signing off on the works.
Applicants BB Minto Ltd, a company formed at the end of June by engineer Alexander Fyfe and accountant David Walker, will retain the workshops there.
It’s one of many empty buildings in the estate, and firms are increasingly favouring demolition rather than paying business rates on premises unlikely to be occupied any time soon.
But on the other side of the city, one empty unit could be in for a new lease of life.
Phoenix Decom Ltd wants to take over a warehouse, office, yard and forecourt at Dyce Industrial Park, which has been advertised to rent for £95,000 per annum.
They plan to use the 10,752sq ft space to store, clean and descale oil field equipment and pipes.
The firm operates its main base from Aberdeen Energy Park in Bridge of Don.
Conyng Hillock is a “prehistoric” burial mound in an unlikely setting – nestled in the back gardens of three homes on Inverurie’s Barclay Road.
It measures about 25m by 20m, and is more than 5m high.
Around 1902 or 1903, an ancient beaker and charred wood were found at the top of the hillock.
And it’s just 15m from where Manse Road resident Martyn Anderson wants to add an extension and new garage to his home.
In applying for permission, he had to consult expert historians on the chances it could disturb the scheduled monument.
Aberdeenshire Council’s archaeology team said there is “the potential” that previously unrecorded relics could still survive beneath his back garden.
Regional archaeologist Claire Herbert asked that investigations take place before any work commences, with details on how any ancient discoveries will be dealt with.
She also suggests that an archaeologist be present for all groundbreaking works.
Historic Environment Scotland said the plans would have “an impact” on Conyng Hillock.
But, as the area is a residential one anyway, they say it “doesn’t raise issues of national significance”.
The former Strathbogie Saw Service shop in the heart of Huntly could soon be knocked down and replaced with a pair of townhouses.
The plans for the disused Bogie Street shop come from a K Marshall.
Each home would have a kitchen and dining area on the ground floor, office and lounge on the first floor and two bedrooms on the second floor.
NatureScot has been given permission for a large new shed at its building on the St Cyrus Nature Reserve.
The agency says piles of equipment and tools left on grass outside the current, undersized hut there make it look “untidy”.
And along with providing a “more visually acceptable solution”, it will also mean the equipment is no longer “exposed to the elements and the salty air from the North Sea”.
Solar panels will also be installed to help power the electric ATV kept there.
The owners of The Cambus o’ May cheese factory are eager to lure in more customers with advertising signs in the form of milk jugs hung up by the side of the A93.
Plans are progressing for a new fish shop in Ballater. The building is the former Rothesay Rooms restaurant opened by King Charles in the wake of Storm Frank flooding.
It will be divided in two, with a restaurant specialising in seafood on one side and the traditional fishmonger on the other.
Owners Artfarm Ltd are seeking permission for the sign to be illuminated.
Artfarm also owns Braemar’s luxury Fife Arms Hotel which they warn could be “at significant risk” unless riverside repairs are carried out.
The company spent several millions on refurbishing the glitzy establishment prior to its 2017 reopening.
Bosses have now commissioned studies on an “unstable” rockface along the River Clunie – yards from the five-star boutique building.
Should it collapse into the water, it could cause untold structural damage to the 19th century resort.
Documents submitted to Aberdeenshire Council state that two specific areas of the rockface need attention.
One has “potential for sliding failure in the rock slope” while the other is suffering from erosion.
Expert engineers from Fairhurst carried out studies at the site.
They have devised ways, using “rock reinforcement dowels” in the sliding mass and “high tensile rockfall netting” to avert calamity.
The Tillydrone Community Development Trust’s dream of reviving Aberdeen’s Wallace Tower has had many ups and downs over the years.
Now, the group is back with revamped proposals to finally unlock its potential as an asset to the area. They hope it could be reborn as a community facility with cafe.
The latest vision for the future of the building, relocated brick by brick from the city centre to Tillydrone decades ago, comes after the group enlisted architect Richard Tinto.
After objections to the previous design, the extension proposed will have “a minimal connection and disruption to the historic building”.
There would be a meeting hall on the first floor and open plan office on the second.
Last month, Planning Ahead revealed that plans had been lodged to turn Aberdeen’s old The Works shop on Union Street into a new restaurant.
It has been empty for five years.
The application, submitted by Ronald Soon, showed a vision to turn the building into a diner with space for more than 60 people across the ground and first floors.
The plans have now been approved.
But updated papers sent to the council now indicate that the type of restaurant it could become remains unknown.
Mr Soon submitted the plans in the hope that, once approved, a firm might be interested in taking the space on.
Potential operators could be enticed by Shell’s recent pledge to boost city centre cafes.
The oil giant will move its North Sea HQ into the adjacent Silver Fin building in the new year.
And bosses have decided to do away with a canteen, instead providing staff with information on the nearby spots where they can pick up lunch.
Meanwhile, the former Three mobile phone shop near McDonald’s on the central stretch of the Granite Mile could be turned into a new take-away.
The unit has been advertised to rent for £60,000 per annum, having been empty for more than two years.
The plans come from Adria Group Ltd, based on Aberdeen’s Altens Industrial Estate.
Apart from dealing in hot food, there are no details on what the proposed takeaway might sell.
The building next to the railings overlooking The Green had been a Three shop for more than a decade by the time it closed.