Latest news with #HistoricEnvironmentScotland
Edinburgh Reporter
a day ago
- Business
- Edinburgh Reporter
Scottish Ministers call in hotel demolition decision
A decision to let a historic hotel be demolished has been called in by Scottish Ministers after councillors went against their own officers advice. East Lothian councillors voted to approve plans to tear down the Golf Hotel, in North Berwick, and replace it with 14 flats at a meeting earlier this year. The decision went against planning officers recommendations and objections from Historic Environment Scotland who are a statutory body. In a letter to the local authority Scottish Ministers have confirmed they will consider the application themselves and issue a decision. It comes after the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland (AHSS) also called for Government intervention describing the unlisted building as 'architecturally distinguished' adding it occupies a 'key position in the North Berwick conservation area. The Golf Hotel closed commercially in 2006 and had been used by its owners for staff accommodation until it was bought by its current owners during the pandemic. However plans to demolish the building and build 14 flats on the site, on Dirleton Avenue, were recommended for refusal by planning officers who said it had not been proven that the hotel could not continue to operate as a commercial venture. And Historic Environment Scotland (HES) objected to its demolition after describing the building as having historic and architectural significance in the town. At a planning committee meeting in March East Lothian councillors heard the former hotel had initially been a house for a single family who used it in the last century as a holiday home evening bringing their own cattle with them so the children did not have to drink local milk. Caledonian Heritable bought the building in 2021 and applied for permission to demolish it and build 14 luxury flats on the site. Objectors to the demolition said the building should be given listed status and was an important part of the town's conservation area. A council spokesperson said: 'Scottish Ministers have called in the application for the demolition of the former Golf Hotel meaning it will now be for them to determine. 'We have submitted the necessary information required to begin the process and made all local members, the community council and objectors aware of this action.' By Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter Like this: Like Related
STV News
a day ago
- Business
- STV News
Decision to tear down historic hotel called in by Scottish Ministers
A decision to let a historic hotel be demolished has been called in by Scottish Ministers after councillors went against their own officers' advice. East Lothian councillors voted to approve plans to tear down the Golf Hotel in North Berwick and replace it with 14 flats at a meeting earlier this year. The decision went against planning officers recommendations and objections from Historic Environment Scotland who are a statutory body. In a letter to the local authority, Scottish Ministers have confirmed they will consider the application themselves and issue a decision. It comes after the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland (AHSS) also called for Government intervention describing the unlisted building as 'architecturally distinguished' adding it occupies a 'key position in the North Berwick conservation area. The Golf Hotel closed commercially in 2006 and had been used by its owners for staff accommodation until it was bought by its current owners during the pandemic. However, plans to demolish the building and build 14 flats on the site, on Dirleton Avenue, were recommended for refusal by planning officers who said it had not been proven that the hotel could not continue to operate as a commercial venture. Historic Environment Scotland (HES) objected to its demolition after describing the building as having historic and architectural significance in the town. At a planning committee meeting in March, East Lothian councillors heard the former hotel had initially been a house for a single family who used it in the last century as a holiday home, bringing their own cattle with them so the children did not have to drink local milk. Caledonian Heritable bought the building in 2021 and applied for permission to demolish it and build 14 luxury flats on the site. Objectors to the demolition said the building should be given listed status and was an important part of the town's conservation area. A council spokesperson said: 'Scottish Ministers have called in the application for the demolition of the former Golf Hotel meaning it will now be for them to determine. 'We have submitted the necessary information required to begin the process and made all local members, the community council and objectors aware of this action.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Scotsman
a day ago
- Business
- Scotsman
Decision on historic East Lothian hotel called in by Scottish Ministers
A decision to let a historic hotel be demolished has been called in by Scottish Ministers after councillors went against their own officers advice. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... East Lothian councillors voted to approve plans to tear down the Golf Hotel, in North Berwick, and replace it with 14 flats at a meeting earlier this year. The decision went against planning officers recommendations and objections from Historic Environment Scotland who are a statutory body. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In a letter to the local authority Scottish Ministers have confirmed they will consider the application themselves and issue a decision. It comes after the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland (AHSS) also called for Government intervention describing the unlisted building as 'architecturally distinguished' adding it occupies a 'key position in the North Berwick conservation area. Former Golf Hotel set to be demolished for new flats | Google Maps The Golf Hotel closed commercially in 2006 and had been used by its owners for staff accommodation until it was bought by its current owners during the pandemic. However plans to demolish the building and build 14 flats on the site, on Dirleton Avenue, were recommended for refusal by planning officers who said it had not been proven that the hotel could not continue to operate as a commercial venture. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad And Historic Environment Scotland (HES) objected to its demolition after describing the building as having historic and architectural significance in the town. At a planning committee meeting in March East Lothian councillors heard the former hotel had initially been a house for a single family who used it in the last century as a holiday home evening bringing their own cattle with them so the children did not have to drink local milk. Caledonian Heritable bought the building in 2021 and applied for permission to demolish it and build 14 luxury flats on the site. Objectors to the demolition said the building should be given listed status and was an important part of the town's conservation area. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A council spokesperson said: 'Scottish Ministers have called in the application for the demolition of the former Golf Hotel meaning it will now be for them to determine. 'We have submitted the necessary information required to begin the process and made all local members, the community council and objectors aware of this action.'
The National
a day ago
- Business
- The National
Demolition of North Berwick hotel halted as SNP ministers step in
East Lothian councillors had voted to approve plans to tear down the Golf Hotel, in North Berwick, and replace it with 14 flats at a meeting earlier this year. However, the decision went against planning officers recommendations and objections from Historic Environment Scotland (HES) who are a statutory consultee – meaning their view must be taken into consideration. In a letter to the local authority, Scottish Government Ministers have now confirmed they will consider the application themselves and issue a decision. The former Golf Hotel in North Berwick had been approved for demolition (Image: LDR) It comes after the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland (AHSS) also called for Government intervention, describing the unlisted building as 'architecturally distinguished' and adding that it occupies a 'key position in the [[North Berwick]] conservation area'. The Golf Hotel closed commercially in 2006 and had been used by its owners for staff accommodation until it was bought by its current owners during the pandemic. However, plans to demolish the building and build 14 flats on the site, on Dirleton Avenue, were recommended for refusal by planning officers – who said it had not been proven that the hotel could not continue to operate as a commercial venture. HES objected to its demolition after describing the building as having historic and architectural significance in the town. At a planning committee meeting in March, East Lothian councillors heard the former hotel had initially been a house for a single family who used it in the last century as a holiday home. Caledonian Heritable bought the building in 2021 and applied for permission to demolish it and build 14 luxury flats on the site. Objectors to the demolition said the building should be given listed status and was an important part of the town's conservation area. A council spokesperson said: 'Scottish Ministers have called in the application for the demolition of the former Golf Hotel meaning it will now be for them to determine. 'We have submitted the necessary information required to begin the process and made all local members, the community council and objectors aware of this action.'
The Guardian
7 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
‘Long-lived and lucky' ship wrecked off Orkney was at siege of Quebec, experts find
When a schoolboy running on a beach on the island of Sanday in Orkney last year came across the timbers of a shipwreck that had been exposed after a storm, local people knew the ship might have an intriguing history. Residents of the tiny island at the edge of the Scottish archipelago are familiar with ships that have come to grief in stormy seas, hundreds of shipwrecks having been recorded there over the centuries. But this large section of oak hull, its boards carefully knitted together by wooden pegs, appeared particularly well built and was obviously not recent. The question was, how old was the ship – and what else could they learn about it? Eighteen months after that discovery in February 2024, archaeologists and local volunteers have managed to identify the ship and to piece together the surprising history of a vessel that witnessed some of the most dramatic events of the 18th century before finally being wrecked off Sanday in 1788. Thanks to detailed timber dating and historical analysis, experts are confident the hull belonged to HMS Hind, a 24-gun Royal Navy frigate that was built in Chichester in 1749 and went on to have a remarkable career. Despite its sticky end, the Hind was 'an amazingly long-lived and lucky ship', according to Ben Saunders, a senior marine archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, who led the project alongside Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to recover and identify the vessel's remains. The ship, naval records show, served off the coast of Jamaica in the 1750s and took part in the sieges of Louisbourg (1758) and Quebec (1759), when the British defeated French forces in Canada during the seven years war. It was among the British fleet in the American revolutionary war of the 1770s and then served for a decade as a training ship in the Irish Sea, before it was decommissioned and sold off to become a 500-tonne whaling ship in the Arctic Circle. It was in this guise, under the new name of The Earl of Chatham, that the ship was wrecked by a North Sea storm on 29 April 1788. Even then, its luck did not desert it – all 56 people onboard survived, a snippet in the Aberdeen Journal records. Identifying the vessel posed a challenge for present-day archaeologists, however. The hull, measuring 10 metres by 5 metres (about 33ft by 16ft), had been well preserved under the sand, allowing multiple wood samples to be sent for dendrochronological analysis. Experts found that the wood had originated in southern and south-western England, and that the earliest sample had a clear felling date of spring 1748. Saunders and his colleagues then worked closely with the community of Sanday, for whom shipwreck timber has been an important source of wood for centuries. The island is largely treeless, and 'some of the people we've been working with have half their roofs held up with masts and deck beams', he says. 'It's incredible.' A date in the mid-18th century was not only interesting but helpful, says Saunders, 'because this is when you're starting to get the bureaucracy of the British state kicking in, and a lot more records surviving'. A group of 20 volunteer researchers pored through maritime archives, government shipping registers and news sheets to pinpoint the right vessel among at least 270 known to have foundered on Sanday. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion '[The islanders] also brought a lot of their own experience,' says Saunders. 'You've got a lot of people in Orkney who are connected to the sea anyway. That meant we could collate this massive amount of data and start saying: 'Right, that ship is too small, that ship was built in the Netherlands, no, not that ship.'' Eventually, the records led the researchers to the Hind and its second life as a whaler when Britain's early Industrial Revolution was relying more heavily on the products of whaling. The timbers salvaged from the shoreline are now being preserved underwater at the Sanday heritage centre while a long-term home is under discussion. Alison Turnbull, the director of external relationships and partnerships at HES, says the 'rare and fascinating story' of the ship's identification 'shows that communities hold the keys to their own heritage. It is our job to empower them to make these discoveries.' Saunders says what he really enjoyed about studying this wreck was 'that we've had to do this detective work', combining the highly technical scientific analysis with scrutiny of a wealth of archive material. 'We're really lucky to have so much archive material, because of the period and because of where it wrecked in Orkney. It's been very satisfying.'
