The site of Forfar’s 19th century poorhouse is on the brink of redevelopment as a multi-million pound supported housing project.
Pandemic-delayed plans for the demolition of The Gables on Arbroath Road have been lodged with Angus Council by Caledonia Housing Association in a scheme for the creation of 21 new homes.
The Gables has been home to adults with learning disabilities since it opened in the late 1970s.
Its role and the work of staff has been praised by care inspectors, but in a 2018 report they said the 40-year-old buildings were only adequately meeting residents’ needs.
Angus Council transferred the site to CHA early in 2020 to help the association comply with Scottish Government grant conditions for the project.
Caledonia – which formed in 2011 following the merger of Servite and Perthshire Housing Associations – has now submitted the detailed redevelopment proposal for the historic site.
The Perth-based charity plans a development of one-bedroom flats and office/communal space in an initial phase.
Affordable one and two-bed homes will also be built there, including on the site of a house fronting Arbroath Road which is earmarked for demolition.
Project architects James F Stephen of Glamis have submitted a justification report to planners highlighting the poor condition of the single-storey house.
It was previously used for storage by Angus Council, which also previously intended to knock it down.
History
The poorhouse opened in 1861 and is thought to have occupied the site of what is now The Gables.
Later called Lordburn House Social Welfare Institution, it was an H-shaped building capable of accommodating around 85 residents.
It was later demolished, and Forfar fire station now stands on the northern part of the original site.
The Forfar project is part of an ambitious CHA expansion to invest £75 million on building 500 new homes.
At Alexander Street in Dundee’s Hilltown, the first residents have moved in to almost 60 homes being built on the former Maxwelltown Works site.
The charity is also working on smaller developments in Pitlochry’s Atholl Road and Newhouse Road and Crieff Road in Perth.