GO-Ahead Given For Kilmacolm Residential Development
COUNCILLORS have approved a major housing development — including nearly 50 houses — at the Balrossie House site in Kilmacolm.
A total of 64 houses and flats are proposed for the site with construction expected to take three-and-a-half years.
Inverclyde Planning Board gave planning permission today, subject to various conditions.
The existing main building will be converted into 12 two to three-bedroom apartments, with three of the historic structure’s facades being retained.
An annexe building will be adapted into two four-bedroom semi-detached house and a distinctive water tower will be turned into a three-bedroom residence also.
Forty-nine houses are proposed for the grounds. These will be a mixture of three, four and five bedroom detached and semi-detached properties. The developers say the new houses are needed “in order to provide the necessary financial input required to fully refurbish the existing buildings.”
A document submitted with the application states: “The creation of the new-build housing development will allow for the long overdue revitalisation of the existing buildings of the site, preventing their further decay and bringing them back into mainstream use.”
Balrossie, in Blacksholm Road, was built in the late 19th century as an orphanage by the Sailors’ Orphans Society of Scotland and was later used as residential school. It has been vacant for around 20 years.
