THE council has applied for planning permission to carry out works on the derelict Sunnybrae Lodge in Walkerburn.
SBC is still awaiting Government approval for a compulsory purchase order (CPO), and intends to sell the property on to someone to fully restore it, but has submitted the plans to erect a new roof.
An SBC spokesman said: “Should the CPO be confirmed, the council is proposing to carry out as soon as possible a first stage of repairs/restoration to the building to create a wind and watertight ‘shell’ including a new roof, which can then be disposed of to a restoring purchaser who would be responsible for the fitting out works.”
They added: “Listed building consent is being applied for now to ensure that, assuming the CPO is confirmed shortly, building tenders can then be sought and the works implemented over late summer and autumn, when the weather is generally more suitable for building works, and to avoid further delay in making improvements to this ‘building at risk’.”
The lodge has been on the Buildings at Risk Register for over a decade, and the condition of it has steadily deteriorated, to the point that the council had to act to remove loose slates and last year remove the roof structure and make stonework safe.