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New lease of life for former Tomintoul secondary school as community housing plans approved

Tomintoul housing plan
Tomintoul housing plan

A derelict former secondary school in Tomintoul is to be given a new lease of life, as plans to build affordable housing have been approved.

The Tomintoul and Glenlivet Community Trust (TGDT) applied for permission to redevelop the site to create 12 affordable properties with a mixture of homes to purchase and rent.

This application has now been approved by the Cairngorms National Park, who said the project would be “of huge benefit to the local community.”

The site on Tomintoul’s main street has been derelict for many years since the secondary school closed.

Now, with permission granted, the development will bring a range of semi-detached and detached homes, available to purchase or rent, with three of the units being proposed as live/work houses, suitable for use as an office, workshop, or studio.

Reaction

Tomintoul and Glenlivet Development Trust members Jenny Herschell and Oliver Giles outside the former Tomintoul Secondary School.

A CNPA planning committee meeting was held on Friday morning, with the application being praised for “greatly enhancing” the main street in Tomintoul.

Planning officer Stephanie Wade said: “This project is fully supported by our policies to deliver new affordable housing within communities.

“The development proposed will provide a mix of tenure with properties available for discounted sale and for social rent, as well as providing live/work flexibility for a number of the units in support of the local economy.

“The design is in keeping with the distinct character of the village and will greatly enhance the main street with this derelict site being brought back into use.”

CNPA Planning Committee Convener Gaener Rodger added: “I am delighted to be able to support this application for 100 per cent affordable housing in Tomintoul.

“The Tomintoul & Glenlivet Development Trust are to be congratulated on the work they have done in securing funds and now planning permission for this project, which will be of huge benefit to the local community.”

History of the site

Tomintoul Secondary School closed to pupils in 2000.

Tomintoul Secondary School shut in 2000 due to a steady decline in the number of pupils attending.

Kids from the village instead go to Speyside High School in Aberlour.

Parts of the complex have since been used occasionally by the neighbouring primary school but the site has been left largely empty.

The former playing fields now resemble an overgrown field.

A private developer had launched plans to knock down the former classrooms, gym hall and dining room to clear the site for housing but soon withdrew.

The TGDT instead bought the site with the view of building community housing.