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Billy McLaren outside the McLaren Hotel on Wednesday. |
Ambitious plans for the Douglas and McLaren Hotels were rubber stamped at a meeting of North Ayrshire Council planning committee last Tuesday.
McLaren Hotel owners Billy and Janie McLaren said: ‘We are delighted with the news. We have spent a lot of money on this and had very frustrating times.’
Plans were first lodged two years ago by the McLarens but they met with objections from Brodick residents. This resulted in them holding public meetings and amending the plans several times.
Mr McLaren said: ‘Once this is finished the people of Brodick will be proud. The objections were unfounded and all the points have been answered. The McLaren will be top dollar. We are grateful for the advice from the Arran Community Council and its input into the new plans; also for the help from Kenneth Gibson MSP and Councillor Margie Currie.’
The applicant is Brodick Homes Ltd of St Helens, Lancashire with its managing director Mark Bulman being the developer. Mr McLaren explained: ‘Janie and I are the owners and investors in this enterprise. Mark is the developer.’
The original plans for 42 flats have been amended several times and are now for 24 flats with a bistro restaurant. A condition of the planning permission is that 12 of the flats are made available for affordable housing.
Councillor Currie said: ‘NAC housing services has not confirmed yet that it has designated these for affordable housing under the homestake scheme. If it cannot get agreement with the applicant it would have to go back to another planning application.’
Mr McLaren said: ‘We will make 12 of the flats available for homestake. I can’t tell what the price will be yet. We have a meeting with the build team on Friday April 25 and will know the final cost after that.
‘Refurbishing the hotel was never a viable option. What is going up will be 100 times better than now. We expect to start demolition in October and are talking of 12 to 15 months build time.
‘The new bar and bistro should be open for next season. We will be asking the people of Brodick for suggestions about the internal layout and décor of the bistro.’
Douglas Hotel owner Sean Henry was in Brodick on Wednesday and he told The Banner: ‘I’m very happy with the planning approval for our new hotel. I have a meeting with my architect in Glasgow this afternoon and then it will be full steam ahead. Once we get started it will be done as fast as possible.’
The Douglas Hotel has been empty and boarded up for 18 months and Mr Henry plans to demolish the older buildings at the rear and retain the red sandstone at the front. Then he intends to build 14 suites on four levels in what he describes as a ‘boutique hotel development’.
