Assembly Rooms developers say it would be 'a sin' to let it deteriorate

Efforts to breathe new life into Dunbar’s B-listed Assembly Rooms have been ongoing for more than 25 years.

Plans were turned down last September for the Church Street building to be transformed into eight flats, with new proposals now put forward for four flats instead.

East Lothian Council’s planning department deemed there was “insufficient space within the curtilage of the application site to provide eight parking spaces” when rejecting the previous plans.

Alexander Williamson and those representing him have called on the local authority to approve the new proposals, which they described as “the only course of action left”.

They highlighted the alarming condition of the empty upper building and said: “At present, we are managing to maintain the structure; that said, last year we did have to take down the centre chimney as the sandstone had eroded and split the chimney, leaving it tilting.

“If this had gone unnoticed the tens of tonnes of rubble would have fallen over 15 metres to the floor of the ballroom and probably crashed through the wood floor into the property below.”

READ MORE: Previous plans for Assembly Rooms are turned down

The Assembly Rooms were built, via subscription, in 1822 for town gatherings of neighbouring farmers. It now appears on Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register.

Three basement flats are privately owned and occupied and not in poor condition.

A supporting statement included within the planning application addresses the parking situation.

It suggested that people were parking on Church Street and nearby Castle Street to take the bus or train elsewhere, as well as to get to the town’s High Street.

However, the report added that there was other parking available nearby.

It calls on members of the planning committee to visit the site and to consider at the history of the building.

The report concludes: “It would be a sin if we were to allow this historical building to decline further.

“To put in perspective for those not familiar with the history, the Assembly Rooms date back to 1822, the same year as King George IV visited Scotland – the first reigning monarch to set foot on Scottish soil for two centuries – three years after Queen Victoria was born, 22 years before the Victoria Harbour, Dunbar, which was started in 1844.

“Also, 1844 saw the completion of the Scott Monument in Princes Street.

“The Assembly Rooms is also nearly 70 years older than the Forth Rail Bridge, which opened in 1890. The year 1902 saw the completion of the North British Station Hotel (The Balmoral), some 80 years after the Assembly Rooms.

“Elsewhere in the world, Napoleon died the year before in 1821; nearly 40 years later the American Civil War started in 1861 and the Russian Revolution was 95 years later in 1917.

“Do we want to lose this historical building?”

Pippa Swan, chairwoman of Dunbar Community Council

Pippa Swan, chairwoman of Dunbar Community Council, had been pleased to see the previous proposals for eight properties refused.

She said there was now “cautious support” for the new scheme, although there were still concerns about changing the height of the roof and the arrangement of the windows.

She said: “I think in some ways it is a shame the design is not more innovative but that is not our place to say.

“I still think the overwhelming view is the whole site needs a whole solution to it but there is no point banging that drum forever.

“At some point, we have got to unlock it.

“If the players are not going to speak to each other, it must be better for the building to get a new roof and new windows than to remain an eyesore for the foreseeable future.”