Historic 125-year-old hotel praised as gateway to North Berwick saved from demolition

Campaigners battled to stop the former Golf Hotel from being torn down after its owners were given planning permission to replace it with 14 flats.

Despite this, East Lothian councillors voted against their own officers’ advice and granted permission for the building’s demolition earlier this year, but the case was then called in by Scottish ministers.

Now ministers have revoked the conservation area consent granted by councillors after agreeing with protesters the hotel, which was built in 1900, would be a harmful loss to the town’s character.

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They dismissed claims by the applicant the building layout was not suited for a modern hotel and the best option was to take it down, saying they had provided no evidence it could not be reused and required demolition.

And they said claims it had become a target of vandalism and antisocial behaviour could be resolved by its owners making it more secure.

Finding against the application, the Scottish Government reporter said: “No evidence has been provided to demonstrate that the building has any structural or other physical issues that would prevent it being brought back into beneficial use.

“My external inspection provided no reasons to suspect that the building has any significant structural issues or any other physical problem such as damp that might be prohibitively expensive to address.

“The applicant has asserted, without supporting evidence, that the form of the building would not lend itself to reuse as an hotel. However, despite this issue also being identified in relevant policy documents as a potential reason why it might be appropriate to demolish a valuable conservation area building, no evidence has been provided to demonstrate that the application building’s form or location would impede its reuse in some other way, for example as flats.”

The Golf Hotel closed commercially in 2006. The building had been used by its owners for staff accommodation until it was bought by owners Caledonian Heritable Ltd during the pandemic.

Caledonian Heritable had argued the building was “totally unsuitable for the modern hotel market due to the confines of its design”.

Plans to demolish the building and build 14 flats on the site, on Dirleton Avenue, were recommended for refusal by East Lothian Council planning officers who said it had not been proven the hotel could not continue to operate as a commercial venture.

And Historic Environment Scotland (HES) objected to the former hotel’s demolition after describing the building as having historic and architectural significance in the town.

At a planning committee meeting in March, East Lothian councillors heard the former hotel had initially been a house for a single family who used it in the last century as a holiday home, bringing their own cattle with them so the children did not have to drink local milk.

Councillors went against their officers to grant the demolition leading to the case being called in by Scottish ministers.

In making their decision, Scottish ministers agreed with their reporter’s finding suggesting the loss of the hotel building would have an impact on the surrounding conservation area and had not been shown to be essential.