Radical plans to bring an Arbroath landmark back in to working use have been approved by Angus councillors.
Members of the development standards committee gave the green light to an application which will see the Keptie Water Tower transformed into a diver training centre for offshore oil and wind engineers.
The decision means the category B listed building will be brought back to life for public use for the first time in more than 100 years and could, according to councillors, make Arbroath a “centre of excellence” for offshore industry training.
The local businessman behind the plans, Grant Stewart, expressed delight at the decision to approve his project and is eager for work to now commence.
He told The Courier: “I’m really quite overwhelmed by the decision. Everyone seems to have been really supportive of the plans and I’m very happy that they have been approved.
“Sometimes you have an idea and you think that it’s a big thing to take on, but this just shows that sometimes it can all work out.
“There is a large amount of work that still needs to be done to the building, inside and out, and we can now focus on screwing down the actual nuts and bolts of the project.
“It is brilliant news that it has been approved but there are other hurdles to jump over and I’m looking forward to fine-tuning a few aspects of the project now to make it the centre of excellence I want it to be.”
The massive project was first revealed by The Courier in December last year when Grant spoke of his plans to revamp the inside of the building, create a new roof and reinforce its internal structures while retaining the overall integrity and fascia of the 1885 building.
Councillor Donald Morrison backed the plans at the time and Arbroath East and Lunan councillor, Bob Spink, also gave his support to the project at the meeting in Forfar.
Mr Spink said: “It is interesting to see how much the building has deteriorated since the last inspection but I am absolutely delighted that we have found a use for it that is in keeping with this unique type of building.
“There is a shortage of diver training centres in Scotland. I think there is only one in Inverness and another in Aberdeen, so this is a fully inspired idea by Mr Stewart and I can’t think of a better use for the tower.”
Concerns over parking at the centre were raised in the planning process but it is anticipated that users will either travel in by train, given the tower’s close proximity to the station, or stay locally.
Parking has also been made available at Dundee and Angus College’s Arbroath Campus for weekends and evenings.