Angus Planning Ahead: Carnoustie golf halfway house upgrade and Birkhill battery plant
by Graham Brown · The CourierGolfers on Carnoustie’s world-renowned Championship course may soon enjoy a new-look halfway house during their round.
Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee has applied to upgrade the refreshment stop near the 10th tee.
It will include new signs for the Rook’s Nest.
Internally the plans involve refurbishment of the refreshment serving area, as well as the male, female and accessible toilets.
The stone-built halfway house welcomes players from around the globe each year.
And it has hosted the biggest names in golf during events such as The Open and Dunhill Links Championship.
The Rook’s Nest follows the naming of the restaurant within the links management HQ beside the first tee as The Rookery.
Birkhill battery plant bid set for green-light
A 50 MW battery storage plant in the Sidlaws is earmarked for approval.
Fig Power Ltd hopes to create the energy project on land west of Templeton Farm, Birkhill.
The development would sit on around 1.2 hectares of farmland and include a compound of 22 battery storage containers.
There were no statutory objections to the application.
But four local letters of representation were submitted. Concerns included the loss of agricultural land and landscape impacts.
Angus planning officials have recommended conditional approval when councillors consider the plan on Tuesday.
They say a 40-year approval for the site should be given.
Conditions relating to other matters, including landscaping, drainage and fire safety are also recommended.
Forfar quarry firm seek six-year extraction extension
A Forfar quarrying firm has applied for a six-year extension to its operations on the outskirts of the town.
Lairds received the go-ahead for extraction of sand and gravel at Auchterforfar in 2019.
But the concrete block maker has only works two of four phases on the site.
It says the rate of extraction was slowed by factors including the Covid pandemic.
The company hopes to quarry more than a million tonnes of aggregate in the next five years before the site is subject to a 12-month restoration programme.
Planning officials have recommended conditional approval for the scheme at Tuesday’s development standards committee.
Murroes garden centre housing proposal
A proposal for three new homes on the site of a former Sidlaws nursery has been submitted.
The application is for planning permission in principle at Evergreen garden centre, Murroes.
It closed following the retirement of the nursery owner after a downturn in business during the pandemic.
The 2,750 sq m. brownfield site is now vacant.
It sits within Murroes conservation area and is split by the local development boundary.
The new houses would use existing accesses off Chapel Road.
The application will be considered in due course.
Forfar mart children’s nursery bid
There are plans to turn old Forfar mart buildings into a children’s nursery and after-school centre.
The building and car park sits on the corner of Market Street and John Street.
It was sold in 2022.
Plans show the facility spread over three storeys.
Each floor would include play areas and toilets. Sensory and quiet rooms are also planned, as well as kitchen, dining and office facilities.
More than 20 years ago Angus Council brought forward a scheme to use the building as a heritage and archives centre.
The £1 million project failed after the authority was unable to secure lottery funding.
Montrose Hotel changes
A Montrose hotel has secured listed building consent for a range of internal changes.
Grey Harlings has operated as a hotel for more than a century.
It is located near the seafront and is beside the first tee of Montrose’s 1562 golf course, the world’s fifth oldest.
The hotel owners want to turn it into a self-service check-in premises.
They hope to make it more attractive to visitors, including families, golfers and the corporate sector.
The hotel will still offer housekeeping and a large lounge, but plans to remove its commercial kitchen.
Planning officials granted listed building consent under delegated powers.
They said: “The first floor layout remains largely the same. The ground floor partitions being added and removed will change the layout more significantly in terms of sub-division of rooms.
“Overall, none of the works proposed would have any significant adverse impact on the character of the C-listed building.