Arbroath residents face eviction after Angus Council ruled illegal conversions of flats during lockdown

Residents are facing eviction from flats in Arbroath after councilors ruled a former nursery had been illegally converted.

The building next to the town’s Abbey Theater has been converted into four flats by developer Mayara Agnes during lockdown.

But Angus Council’s environmental health department and the national theater body objected to the conversion, citing potential noise complaints from productions.

The rear part of the stage and theater workshop is located above some of the converted flats.

Councilors rejected a retrospective planning application for the properties during a development standards committee on Thursday.

This means residents are in danger of being evicted from their flats in Arborath. They say that they are happy in their homes and do not experience any noise problems.

In a letter to mayors, one resident explained that her husband was her full-time caregiver and was being treated for cancer, which was diagnosed in 2022.

Addressing the committee, the resident wrote: “Our current home is perfect for us. We are not physically or mentally prepared to handle another move.

“We are financially out of savings to finance another house move. “Our previous moves exhausted everything we had.”

Another resident said they had “been living happily on Abbot Street for over a year.”

Despite the insistence of the neighborhood residents, council members decided not to grant the planning permission.

Conservative Brechin councilor Gavin Nicol said: “This is very difficult.

“The properties are currently occupied but have been renovated without planning permission and without relevant noise and pollution testing.

“It is very difficult, but they are residing in properties illegally.”

However, not all councilors opposed the flats, with Labor Arbroath councilor Brenda Durno leading the call for support for the conversion.

He added: “There’s a local pub near there which could create a lot of noise, a bowling club and 75 new homes being built behind the theatre.

“So I think this is a renewal of this area that has been abandoned for a long time.”

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