Welcome to our weekly round-up of the latest planning applications lodged across the north-east.
This week, we have a special look at how historic buildings across the north and north-east are being preserved.
In the case of the 200-year-old Leslie Parish Church and Old Gartly Central School, that could be done by turning them into impressive family homes.
Meanwhile, plans have been launched to secure the future of the A-listed Strichen Town House by replacing its leaky slate roof.
And in the Granite City, Aberdeen Lads Club is forging plans to improve its Tillydrone base as the group’s centenary nears.
New Aberdeen playpark – with its own ‘theatre’
Firstly, we have plans for a new playpark in the Woodside area of Aberdeen.
Fersands and Fountain Community Project, which runs the Fersands Family Centre, has put forward the proposal to transform its car park.
The play area will be at the rear of Woodside Community Centre, on Marquis Road.
The application form indicates the space would take up four currently disused parking spaces.
The play area would have a “mud kitchen”, a farm-themed “play zone”, a sand pit, a suspended bridge, herb growing garden and a sensory area.
There will even be a theatre-themed play area, with raised amphitheatre-style seating for imaginative youngsters to put on their own performances!
Flats could become family home
Nearby, a developer wants to turn ground and first-floor flats into one three-bedroom family home.
CDS Properties (Northern) Ltd has formed the proposal for 28 Gladstone Place, which was sold for £37,500 in August 2019.
Get Active @ Northfield signs approved
Days ahead of its big opening, on Monday, September 26, Aberdeen City Council has endorsed plans for new signage at the new Get Active @ Northfield centre.
It comes after a £4.8m refurbishment of the Kettlehills Crescent venue.
It will have a 25m pool and gym with dozens of pieces of exercise equipment.
New nursery outside Stonehaven with ‘wildlife pond’
Nursery boss Linda Pirie has nurtured generations of children in her 30 years in the industry.
Now she wants to build a large home along with a new childcare facility beside Rothnick Croft on the outskirts of Stonehaven.
She aims to create a children’s workshop and wildlife pond to accompany the daycare centre on a redundant farming field just off the AWPR at Lairhillock.
Mrs Pirie has run Croft Nurseries since 1993, starting in the south of Stonehaven and expanding to Arduthie Road in 1998.
She first lodged these plans in 2019 – which were approved after being backed by 57 letters of support.
But she is now seeking renewed consent after the project was held up by the pandemic.
The home would be for Mrs Pirie and her family to live in, and “oversee” the business.
Kinneff hall to be knocked down and rebuilt
Meanwhile, plans have been lodged to knock down a Mearns hall that has seen better days…
Kinneff Village Hall has staged Christmas shows, countless Women’s Institute meetings, bowling competitions and even 18th birthday parties over the years.
But its caretakers, the Catterline, Kinneff and Dunnottar Community Council have now lodged plans to knock it down to make way for a replacement on the same plot.
Blueprints show the new structure would have plenty of storage space, a small communal gathering place and a large general purpose hall.
There would also be a community shop in the building if the plans are approved.
Aberdeenshire Council’s roads department has requested more information before it responds to the scheme, so there remains some work to do.
Historic Strichen Town House upgrades
Elsewhere, plans have been formed to replace the leaking 200-year-old roof of the A-listed Strichen Town House.
The building was erected in 1816, having been designed by famed Aberdeen architect John Smith – also responsible for Balmoral Castle.
It is now in the care of the Strichen Town House Trust.
Trustee Gerald Banks, in seeking permission for the upgrades, explains that the existing slate roof is “leaking” and needs to be stripped.
It would be replaced with new slating.
Holburn Street ice cream shop approved
Last week, we revealed new plans for a pizza and kebab restaurant on Aberdeen’s Holburn Street.
It could form part of a resurgent food scene at the northern end of the road, with a separate proposal for a new cafe nearby now approved.
The new ice cream shop will open at the foot of the Skene House apartments building, which itself is undergoing a transformation from serviced accommodation to mainstream flats.
The plans for the unit, formerly a beauty salon, were revealed in Planning Ahead in May.
The 28 Holburn Street premises will also sell coffee, sandwiches and a range of bakes.
And it will have 10 seats outside, along with 20 indoors.
But in approving the change, the council imposed a condition that no cooking, frying or baking take place inside the shop – to “prevent significant malodour being produced”.
Another setback for Correction Wynd cafe and record shop
Aberdeen’s Red Robin Records has been dealt yet another blow in the long-running battle to keep its three outdoor pods.
The seating was created amid social distancing rules, ensuring customers could support the independent business by eating outside.
The record shop and cafe has since faced demands to remove the street furniture because it has “a detrimental impact” on the character of the Union Street Conservation Area.
And the council also warned the pods “obstruct driver visibility”.
Defiant owner Nick Duthie, backed by a popular petition, relaunched his proposal to keep them this summer.
But again, his hopes have been dashed.
This time, the Aberdeen Civic Society branded the pods “an inappropriate use
of public space”.
Bryan Watson chipped in from Alford to bemoan the “ugly addition to the street” with “no architectural merit”.
Council officers pointed out the pods are between the boundary of the A-listed St Nicholas Churchyard and category B and C-listed buildings along Correction Wynd.
Again, the application was rejected due to its impact on the area and on road safety.
Leslie Parish Church could become new house at last
Leslie Parish Church, near Insch, was built more than 200 years ago.
The church, which retains its bell, contains a granite memorial dedicated to local men who were killed in the First World War.
It has been lying empty for about 20 years now, despite attempts to bring it back into use.
In 2012, the kirk was sold to a private buyer but subsequent plans to turn it into a house stalled.
By 2019, property agents ASPC had slashed its asking price to just £34,000 as they desperately sought a new buyer.
Just years before, it had been on offer for £50,000.
A statement on ASPC’s website at the time said: “The building is believed to be suitable for conversion to a two-bedroom home.”
Now, three years on, fresh plans have been formed to do just that.
Blueprints lodged with Aberdeenshire Council show how the pulpit would be retained as a unique feature.
There would be a large living room and kitchen/dining room on the ground floor, along with two bedrooms upstairs and a void over the ground floor.
Scroll to see the changes:
Owner Alister Coutts would get rid of 24 pews lined along the nave of the church to make way for the ground floor changes.
Another elevated seating area will be turned into one of the bedrooms.
And Mr Coutts is seeking permission to create two new windows as part of the transformation.
In 2005, following its disposal, the World War I memorial was poised to be removed by the Church of Scotland, which also wanted to take away the church’s pulpit, organ, bell and stained glass windows.
However, Aberdeenshire councillors quashed the plans in “less than a minute”, meaning it retains its historic features.
And old Gartly school could become home too!
Earlier this year, we outlined plans to turn the old Gartly Central School, at Bridgend, into a new home.
It closed in 1962, and now Inverurie-based Niall Killoh wants to turn it into a large house with its own gym.
Now blueprints indicate how the transformation could look.
Scroll back and forth to see how it could change:
Meanwhile, the first floor would have three more en-suite bedrooms – including the master bedroom with its own walk-in wardrobe.
Aberdeen Lads Club marking 100 years with upgrade plan
It was on February 4, 1924, that the Press and Journal announced a public meeting to discuss the formation of the Aberdeen Lads Club.
By the end of the year, it was up and running – with committee convener George Smith writing in to thank those who donated items including a gramophone (and records), books, a bagatelle table and boxing gloves.
‘The public are in thorough sympathy with the cause’: Read the letter here
It was founded to “promote the moral, social and physical wellbeing” of young people, particularly in deprived areas.
And it was thriving by 1953 when a promising 13-year-old footballer named Denis Law joined up.
The club has undergone a few changes over the years, though.
It moved to Tillydrone in 1982 after its old Hutcheon Street base was demolished to make way for the Mounthooly roundabout.
Now, it runs an “urban aid project”, hosting after-school clubs and mother and toddler sessions – among various other activities.
And organisers are planning to enhance the Dill Road premises as Aberdeen Lads Club nears its centenary.
Members are now seeking permission for “various works” including replacing windows and doors.
Though at their early stages, it’s understood this is part of wider plans to “modernise” the club’s home and enhance its offering to local youngsters.
You can see this week’s plans for yourself using these links:
Leslie Parish Church home plan
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