2500445PP - Unit 4 Douglas Centre, Alma Road, Brodick
North Ayrshire Council · 28 January 2026
Back to Planning Committee — 28 January 2026 and its agenda
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NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 28th January 2026 Planning Committee Locality Isle of Arran Reference 25/00445/PP Application Registered 1st October 2025 Decision Due 1st December 2025 Ward Arran Recommendation Approved with no Conditions __________________________________________________________________ Location Unit 4 Douglas Centre Alma Road Brodick Isle Of Arran North Ayrshire KA27 8AJ Applicant Mr Graeme Andrew Proposal Removal of occupancy condition on upper flat applied under previous planning permission 10/00449/PP and change of use of ground floor retail unit to form additional residential flat ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Description Planning permission is sought to change the use of a ground floor commercial unit to form a residential flat and to remove a previous planning condition which restricted the occupation of an existing managers flat above the unit to allow its future sale or letting on the open market. The proposal relates to a ground floor unit with an attic flat above in the Douglas Centre which adjoins the northwest of the Douglas Hotel, located at the eastern end of Shore Road, Brodick. Unit 4 is adjoined by Unit 5 to the south which is used as staff accommodation by the Hotel and by the office of the Arran Banner newspaper to the north. Other uses within the Douglas Centre row include an opticians, a solicitors office and the office of a cleaning company. The premises are also adjoined by the raised terrace seating area of the hotel to the east and by the Co-op supermarket to the rear (west) across the intervening Alma Road.
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Planning permission 10/00449/PP was previously granted in 2010 for the Change of use of
an attic storage area to form managers accommodation. Condition 1 of that permission
stated that the residential accommodation was to be occupied solely as staff
accommodation in association with Unit 4 Douglas Centre and was not to be sold or let
separately.
The proposal now is to internally convert the ground floor shop to form a two bedroom flat
and to remove the previous planning condition to also allow the upper flat to be sold or let
independently without any connection to the business use of the ground floor.
The ground floor entrance on the east elevation would be amended to isolate the existing
combined stairway entrance to the shop and the upper level. Access to the new ground
floor flat would be via an existing sliding door on the front elevation.
There would be no significant exterior alteration of the building other than installation of two
new rooflights on the front roof slope and one on the rear, and alterations to the rear (west)
fenestration to block up a window, widen another and install a new 775mm by 820mm
ground floor window.
A supporting statement was submitted with the application which indicated that the
applicant has operated a small appliance repair business (Arran Domestic Service Centre)
from the premises since 1991 but is now to retire and wishes to convert both floors to small
apartments, for which he considers there is an ever growing demand on the island.
The statement details other businesses within Brodick which would continue to provide
similar services. It also states that the commercial unit suffers from a lack of passing trade
given its location and that the mix of neighbouring units (newspaper office, optician,
cleaning company, solicitors) do not attract any significant footfall to the area. The
Statement concludes that whilst the unit was not formally marketed, the applicant had made
it well known within the community that he intended to retire and cease trading and was
open to offers for the business as a going concern but received no interest.
The application site is within the settlement boundary of Brodick, as identified in the Adopted
North Ayrshire Council Local Development Plan ("the LDP"). As the proposal is for
residential use within the village, the Towns and Villages Objective of Strategic Policy 1 is
relevant as is Strategic Policy 2: Placemaking. Policy 8: Business Development on Arran
and Cumbrae also has some relevance to the proposal.
In terms of the planning history of unit 4, planning permission 10/00449/PP was granted
subject to conditions in 2010 for Change of Use of attic storage unit to form managers
accommodation following the earlier refusal of 10/00140/PP for Change of use of storage
unit to form dwellingflat.
For the other units in the row: the adjoining Unit 5 to the south had planning permission
01/97/0263 granted in 1997 for a change of use of a first floor storage area over a dental
surgery to a residential flat, subject to a condition limiting the occupation to persons
employed by the dental surgery or their dependants. In 2016, 16/00498/PP was granted for
the change of use of the ground floor dental surgery to a delicatessen and hot food
takeaway and 16/00497/PP was granted without conditions for the subdivision to form a
self-contained flat on the first floor. Most recently, in 2019 planning permissionPage 3
19/00658/PP was granted for the change of use of the delicatessen to form additional hotel accommodation for the Douglas Hotel. Unit 3 was changed from retail to office use under 04/01284/PP and appears to have been occupied by the Arran Banner since then. Unit 2 was changed from Class 1 Retail to Class 2 Office use under 15/00764/PP in 2015 and appears to have been occupied as a solicitors office since then. There is no record of planning applications for Unit 1. 2. Consultations and Representations The statutory neighbour notification procedures were undertaken and one public objection was received from Arran Civic Trust. OBJECTION: The Douglas Centre was originally designed and built for commercial/office use. Small commercial units of this size are still unusual in Brodick and should be retained as such. If domestic accommodation were allowed in Unit 4 that would set a precedent for the whole of the Douglas Centre to become domestic dwellings. RESPONSE: It is noted that residential accommodation has been previously approved in the upper levels of several of the units but the only residential occupation granted for the ground floor units thus far has been for staff and/or guest accommodation for the Douglas Hotel in Unit 5. However, it is further noted that no precedent would be set by any planning determination of this application as any future proposals would require to be assessed on their own merits against the development plan and any other material considerations at the time. This proposal is assessed against the Development Plan in the following Analysis. CONSULTATIONS ARRAN COMMUNITY COUNCIL: Objects. The proposal cannot be supported due to the needs of the local area. The original build was for small retail units, something still lacking in the Brodick area. This proposal would convert both levels of this unit to residential and would not benefit future business opportunities in the area. There is no commitment to affordable housing or future service provision. There would be an issue with parking. RESPONSE: Noted. The proposal is assessed against the relevant criteria of the Development Plan in the following Analysis. Active Travel and Transport was consulted on potential impacts on parking and the public road network and the response follows. ACTIVE TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT: No objection. As this is a town centre re-development no dedicated parking is required but on-street public parking, currently unrestricted, is available nearby. RESPONSE: Noted 3. Analysis The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act requires that planning applications be determined with regard to the development plan and any other material considerations. The
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development plan comprises National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) and the North Ayrshire Local Development Plan (LDP), adopted in November 2019. NPF 4 does not contain any policies restricting the loss of commercial units which are not deemed viable by the owners. Whilst Brodick does not have a specifically identified Town Centre, it is considered that Policy 27 of NPF4 (Town Centre Living) is relevant. This policy requires proposals for residential use of ground floor premises in town centres to (i) retain an attractive and appropriate frontage; (ii) not adversely affect the vitality and viability of a shopping area or the wider centre; and (iii) not result in undesirable concentration of uses or 'dead frontages'. For (i) the proposal here would essentially retain the same frontage without signage and the patio door front entrance is considered to be appropriate for a flat of this scale, particularly in this unobtrusive corner location. With regards to (ii), given the previous history and changes of use of the various units in the centre, as detailed above, the row is now primarily characterised by professional offices (newspaper, opticians) and hotel accommodation and is not primarily a shopping area. Whilst the large Co-op supermarket is to the west, the row is essentially some 150-200 metres from the independent retail premises on Shore Road which commences with the Little Roack café and Arran Active clothing store and is then punctuated by guest houses and residential properties before a row of small shops for the Book and Card Centre and beyond. The Douglas Centre is therefore over 380 metres away from the main concentration of retail shops in Brodick village and the loss of this small repair shop would not have a significant adverse effect on the viability of the main shopping area. For (iii), residential uses are acceptable in principle in town centres and there would be no concentration of undesirable uses. The Towns and Villages Objective of Strategic Policy 1 (T&VO) of the LDP identifies the mixed function of our towns and villages which are where most of our homes, jobs, community facilities, shops and services are located and identifies that residential development will accord with the development plan in principle. Whilst the T&VO identifies that a 'town centre first' principle will be applied to directing any major new investment it does not contain any policy criteria regarding the potential loss of any commercial premises which are not deemed viable by the owners. Policy 8: Business Development on Arran and Cumbrae similarly addresses factors in guiding potential new business developments to appropriate locations to bring positive impacts on the vitality, vibrancy and visibility of the island but is silent on the potential loss of existing units. Given the policy considerations above, the residential use of the unit would accord with the policies and there would be no significant adverse effects on the overall retail offer of the village centre. The proposal therefore complies with the relevant policies. Strategic Policy 2 of the LDP addresses design and amenity issues. There would be minimal changes to the external appearance of the building here and it would therefore remain appropriate to the overall visual amenity of the wider area. Whilst the proposed
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resulting properties would both be small flats, they would provide a reasonable level of amenity to future occupants and would be located within easy reach of the shore and amenities of the village centre. The outdoor seating terrace of the Hotel would be immediately to the front but it is considered that would only present a reasonable level of noise or disturbance to occupants, given that its operation would remain within the control of the Licensing Authority in any case. There would be no expected significant adverse effects on the expected residential amenity of any other properties. The proposal also there accords with Strategic Policy 2. Given the foregoing, the proposals accords with the relevant provisions of the development plan. The ground floor unit can therefore be changed to a residential flat and accordingly, there is no longer any requirement for the planning condition linking the flat above to the lower commercial use. Planning condition 1 of 10/00449/PP has therefore served its purpose and can be removed. It is therefore recommended that planning permission be granted both for the proposed change of use and the removal of a condition of 10/00449/PP. There are no other material considerations not addressed above and no requirement to apply any planning conditions. 4. Full Recommendation Approved with no Conditions Allan Finlayson Chief Planning Officer For further information please contact Mr Neil McAteer Planning Officer on 07990 410884.