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Perthshire Planning Ahead: Cafe bar plan for former bank and Aviva fears over mobile phone mast

Planning Ahead is the weekly round-up of Perth and Kinross Council applications and approvals.

Vacant Aberfeldy TSB branch, next door to Cow and Parrot cafe.
Aberfeldy's former TSB could be set for a new lease of life.

Aberfeldy’s old TSB branch could be set for a new lease of life as a cafe bar.

James Cowan, who runs the Cow and Parrot cafe next door, is behind the plan.

He is asking Perth and Kinross Council for permission to change the use of the former bank building at 31 Bank Street.

The goal is to open a cafe bar with a licence to sell alcohol from Wednesday to Sunday, 12-11pm.

Visualisation of the Cow and Parrot cafe with the unit next door similarly painted black and with gold lettering.
How the former Aberfeldy TSB bank building might look with its new branding. Image: Perth and Kinross Council.

The TSB closed its Aberfeldy branch in 2023, saying just one customer was visiting it on a regular basis.

The move left the Perthshire tourist town with no banks.

Aviva objects to Perth phone mast plan

Aviva opposes a mobile phone company’s bid to raise a new mobile phone mast next to its HQ on the outskirts of Perth.

EE seeks planning permission for a 25-metre “monopole” on land to the north-east of the insurance company’s Pitheavlis base.

Artist's impression of the EE mast rising from an area of grassland with the existing turbine in the background.
Will a new EE mobile phone mast join Aviva’s wind turbine on the Perth skyline? Image: Perth and Kinross Council.

But Aviva has submitted an objection to the application.

The firm says it is worried about the impact on its  A-listed building.

It also fears the potential impact on the landscape and the operation of Aviva’s nearby wind turbine.

It comes after Aviva ran into bother over its own recent addition to the Perth skyline.

John Swinney cutting a ribbon in front of the wind turbine while a woman applauds.
John Swinney welcomed the Aviva turbine to Perth. Image: Aviva.

First Minister John Swinney officially declared the firm’s 77-metre wind turbine open last November.

But Perth and Kinross Council later found it had breached a planning condition by causing “shadow flicker” for nearby residents.

Wellness suite with swimming pool part of family’s plans for historic Kinross-shire house

The new owner of a Georgian country house near Milnathort hopes to bring it bang up to date with a swimming pool in the courtyard.

Dale Hynd bought B-listed Shanwell House for £1.6 million in January 2024.

He has already produced a masterplan to bring the seven-bedroom house and 25-acre estate back into family use.

And now Perth and Kinross Council is being asked to approve a programme of works to repair and renovate the dilapidated courtyard buildings.

The aim? To create a “secondary social space and wellness centre for the residents of Shanwell House”.

Shanwell House, a two-storey Georgian manor with neat lawn.
Shanwell House is set for a Grand Designs-style makeover. Image: Savills.

Papers submitted with the planning application explain: “The client’s brief is to create a space where the family can play, relax, work out and entertain.

“A swimming pool is to be added to the building for the client’s family to use.

“Along with this a wellness suite including a sauna, cryotherapy room and spa treatment room have been requested in the brief.”

Dunning hotel renovations give new ‘focal point’ for conservation village

Dunning pub bosses have won retrospective planning permission to turn a neighbouring house into new guest accommodation.

The Kirkstyle Inn team had already carried out the internal alterations to the Old Shop in Kirkstyle Square.

The inn is a two-storey building with steps leading up to its front door.
The Kirkstyle Inn, Dunning. Image: Shutterstock.

The C-listed building used to have a fruit and vegetable shop on the ground floor, before it was converted into a single house in the 1980s.

Few of its historical features had survived the last conversion. And the latest renovations were largely internal to install modern facilities for hotel guests.

Perth and Kinross Council planners approved the changes.

A statement submitted with the application explains: “The building gives light at night to the street scene and is a focal point of the village, and does in no way diminish from the property’s appeal or use as part of the community of Dunning.”

Scottish Water wins temporary permission to allow Glenfarg works to go ahead

Council bosses have approved a programme of works in connection with a controversial upgrade of the Glenfarg water treatment works.

Three people standing beside a narrow road in Glenfarg while a lorry drives down it.
Glenfarg residents say the Scottish Water construction traffic will be unacceptable. Image: DC Thomson.

Scottish Water will be allowed to build a new bridge over the River Farg, along with a haul road, gatehouse and fencing for a four-year period.

Glenfarg residents campaigned against the upgrade at the 40-year-old water treatment plant at East Blair, a mile or two outside the village.

They said the construction phase would cause “three years of noise and dust”, not to mention congestion and road safety risks.

The water treatment plant with reservoir behind and trees and hills around.
Scottish Water says the Glenfarg works need modernised. Image: Scottish Water.

The reservoir at Glenfarg supplies drinking water to 179,000 people across Kinross-shire and Fife.

The larger plans, which have already been approved, include a new pumping station and pipes, a new backwash tank and chlorine contact tank and associated buildings.

Aberfeldy cafe bar

Aviva phone mast

Shanwell House

Kirkstyle alterations

Glenfarg Scottish Water works

 

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