Fate of East Lothian Golf Hotel to be decided in the next 4 weeks

Plans to knock down the Golf Hotel and build 14 flats were recommended for refusal by East Lothian Council planners and faced dozens of local protests as well as an objection from Historic Environment Scotland.

Despite this councillors voted by six to four to approve the plans from hotel owners Caledonian Heritable, in March this year, after being told the building was originally a home for a single family.

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.

The Golf Hotel in North Berwick. | LDR

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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 the time officers warned they would have to notify Scottish Ministers of their intention to approve the demolition because it went against HES advice.

Scottish Ministers have now told the local authority they are considering whether to call the application in for them to make a final decision on.

They now have 28 days to decide their next step.

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.