Arbroath residents face eviction after Angus Council rules flats were illegally converted during lockdown

Residents face being thrown out of their Arbroath flats after councillors ruled a former nursery was illegally converted.

The building beside the town’s Abbey Theatre was converted into four flats by developer Mayara Agnes during lockdown.

However, Angus Council’s environmental health department and a national theatre body objected to the conversion, citing possible noise complaints from productions.

The rear of the stage and theatre workshop sits over part of converted flats.

Councillors have now rejected a retrospective planning application for the properties during a development standard committee on Thursday.

This means residents face being thrown out of their Arborath flats. They say they are happy in their homes and have not experienced any noise issues.

In a letter to council chiefs, one resident revealed she is her husband’s full-time carer and is currently undergoing treatment for cancer, having been diagnosed in 2022.

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

“Financially, we have no savings left to fund another house move. Our previous moves have used up all we had.”

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

Despite pleas from residents, councillors ruled to refuse permission for the development.

Conservative Brechin councillor Gavin Nicol said: “It’s very difficult.

“We’ve got occupiers in the properties just now but these properties have been renovated without planning permission and without the relevant sound and contamination testing.

“It’s very difficult but they are illegally resident in the properties.”

However, not all councillors opposed the flats with Labour Arbroath councillor Brenda Durno leading the call to support the conversion.

She added “There’s a local pub not far from there that can make a lot of noise, a bowling club and 75 new houses being built behind the theatre.

“So I think it’s a regeneration of this area that has been left for a long time.”