The owners of the former Party Time shop in Broughty Ferry have taken their fight to demolish the building to Holyrood.
An application was submitted to Dundee City Council in December seeking permission to raze the retail unit and storage building to allow the site to to be redeveloped.
The applicant, owner Colin Myles, argued they were both in a deteriorating condition.
Party Time, on Long Lane, shut in March after more than 30 years of trading and the premises is now vacant.
However, planning officers subsequently refused the application.
Among the reasons for this was officers belief that “reasonable efforts” had not been made to “retain, repair and reuse the building”.
They added: “It would not be acceptable to approve the demolition of these buildings in the absence of an acceptable redevelopment proposal for the site.”
Officers also concluded that “demolishing the building would see the removal of a feature that Historic Environment Scotland and DCC feel contributes to the character and appearance of the Broughty Ferry Conservation Area”.
Appeal against demolition refusal
Now, an appeal against the decision has been lodged with Scottish Government.
In a statement drafted on behalf on Mr Myles, a number of rebuttals were put forward against the reasons given to the application being rejected.
It noted that Historic Environment Scotland had not objected to the demolition proposal and argued the building is “not a traditional fisherman’s cottage reflective of the wider
conservation area”.
The applicant also pushed back on suggestions from planning officers that the condition of the building was due to a “lack of maintenance over a number of years”.
The appeal report added: “The buildings have been maintained to a certain level, however, not to a standard that would allow conversion without further works being undertaken.”
The applicant has also proposed a planning condition which they say they would adhere to if the appeal is upheld.
This would mean no demolition shall take place until a contract of written evidence, demonstrating that construction of the new building will commence as soon as reasonably practicable following demolition, has been approved in writing by DCC.
A decision on the appeal is expected to be made by August.
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