Century-old flats in a north-east harbour town are being primed for demolition. It follows a long-running dispute between the owner of one of the homes and Aberdeenshire Council.
The 12 Victorian apartments in Ugie Street and St Peter Street, Peterhead, are due to be torn down to make way for affordable housing. Housing co-operative Tenants First has now lodged plans to replace them with four new houses and four self-contained flats.
The local authority was in talks with one of the flat’s owners for about a year. And when he refused to sell up and move out, council officials applied to the Scottish Government for permission to use compulsory purchase powers. But last night, the local authority confirmed they were never used.
Principal estate surveyor Ralph Strachan said: “We managed to reach a resolution and did not have to resort to using a compulsory purchase order.
“We felt that we should get the required permission in place in case it ever got that far.”
He said: “We had been in talks with the owners of one of the flats for a while, but he did not stay there. The flats have been empty for some time now.”
The council now owns the properties and is poised to sell them to Tenants First for an undisclosed sum.
The block was built in 1888 using traditional local granite.
Tenants First has already demolished an old fish factory and garage to build 50 homes next to the earmarked flats. The former Macrae processing plant was demolished three years ago to make way for the housing scheme.
Aberdeen-based Tenants First teamed up with construction giant Stewart Milne to create “sustainable and environmentally sympathetic” accommodation for families and older people at Peterhead.
The advanced timber-frame system used in the new homes reduces the number of joins in its structure, allowing higher levels of insulation and a reduced carbon footprint.
Meanwhile, dozens of derelict flats at the other end of St Peter Street, which were built in the 70s, are due to be demolished to make way for new shops.
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