Plans to turn a historic Forfar park keeper’s house into a showpiece eco home have gone back to the drawing board.
The Boyle Park gate lodge has lain empty for years.
But there were hopes it would soon be back in use as a showcase conversion of how old houses can be made eco-friendly.
Angus Council planned to transform the property for renting to a family with complex needs.
It could have included retro-fit carbon saving measures such as solar panels and a heat pump system.
But housing bosses admit those plans have now been scrapped.
And there are also concerns the timetable for new affordable homes on the site of the town’s old Academy is slipping further away.
Gifted to town
The keeper’s house is on the Glamis Road entrance of the park named after Forfarian John Stewart Boyle.
He died in Glasgow in 1935, aged 84, but never forgot his Angus roots.
The park was opened in 1937, funded by his widow, Isabella.
But the substantial stone house has not been occupied for many years.
It was regularly targeted by vandals and there have been repeated calls to bring it back into use.
Forfar councillor Lynne Devine quizzed officers on how plans were progressing at the latest Angus Council communities committee on Tuesday.
And communities service leader Gavin Balfour admitted the original idea has been dumped.
“This has been with us for a while,” he said.
“We’ve been looking at a number of complex aids and adaptation cases that we were going to convert the building for, along with an extension.
“That has been exhausted and hasn’t materialised.
“What we’re going to do is make it a four-bed house for general needs.”
But he wasn’t able to give a firm timescale for the project.
One local who lives nearby said it was frustrating to see the project delayed again.
“This is a cracking old house and could be perfect for a family,” they said.
“People are crying out for good homes right across Angus and so it’s not acceptable that we’re now told it’s back to the drawing board.
“It’s been lying empty for so long there are some who are wondering if it will ever be done.
“But if it’s back to square one then maybe the council also need to consider community use.”
Old Academy site delay
And more than 40 new affordable homes for the site of the former Forfar Academy could be four years away.
The council built a new early years centre on part of the Taylor Street site which was cleared after Forfar Community Campus opened in 2016.
But nearly 20,000 square metres of the old school site was left vacant.
The council is planning to build up to 43 houses in the £8 million project.
Around £3m of that will come from a Scottish Government affordable housing grant.
The authority’s housing capital plan shows the first £1.5m earmarked for spending on the scheme in 2025/26, with the rest to follow in later years.
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