North Berwick group objecting to plans for former Golf Hotel

Last month, the Courier reported that Caledonian Heritable Ltd had applied for planning permission to demolish the former hotel and replace it with an apartment block.

Now, North Berwick Community Council members have voted to object to the development due to the "scale" of the property, after a lengthy discussion at their meeting this month. 

READ MORE: Former Golf Hotel in North Berwick could make way for flats

Christiane Maher, treasurer of the group, claimed: "The new building is twice the footprint and is coming much further out to the road to Dirleton Avenue and is more prominent than the original building.

"It is quite substantial, these flats are not tiny, they are not little, they are of a good size.

"If you compare it to the scale of the original, it is just massive against everything else that surrounds it.

"I really want to object on the issue of scale. The building on architectural merit is not worth saving, more flats for North Berwick is great, but the scale is just too much." 

Group member Bill Macnair said: "If you look at that building it is a hotchpotch, it is a mess, not because of vandalism or anything like that. It has had three or four additions to it over the years.

"To try and maintain that building and make it habitable for the modern age, it's just not going to be viable.

"I think what has been proposed is not bad and it will take it to the future, as we are short of houses. 

"To try and maintain it as a hotel is complete nonsense, we have a hotel in the town that has dropped its offering price and it is still not selling, and that tells you something.

"We shouldn't hamstring things for nostalgia."  

Fellow group member Peter Hamilton said: "I don't object to [the plans], I think it is a great building, I don't see any problem with it; the [current] building is an eyesore."  

But following the lengthy discussion, a majority of members voted to object to the plans due to the scale of the proposed new building.