South Scotland MSP, Emma Harper, along with the Heathhall Community Council, has stepped up her campaign to see urgent and effective action to tackle what she, and the community, describe as the “eyesore” abandoned former Historic Arrol Johnston car Factory in Locharbriggs.
Ms Harper, along with Heathhall Community Council, have lodged a petition to Dumfries and Galloway Council to call on the Local Authority to take immediate and effective action to address the vacant, abandoned and derelict Factory site in Dumfries.
In the petition, which is available online and for signing in person, Ms Harper outlines what action, within the constraints of the law, the Council could take to turn the site into a usable asset for potential developers. These actions include the Council invoking Section 179 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 to issue a “waste land notice” to the owner of the Factory or using the relevant provisions under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003, as the former Interfloor Factory presents a danger to people, to the public generally, and to the wider community, to remove or reduce a danger, to carry out the necessary work required to make the building, and its land useful to the local community.
The South Scotland MSP has made clear, while these actions are not a fait accompli or a be-all-and-end-all to addressing the building, that they will at least allow for the land to be addressed and to be more attractive to a potential developer. The petition also cites possible options for the building, such as demolition or partial demolition, should that be required.
Commenting, Ms Harper said:
“Since my re-election to the Scottish parliament, I have been actively pursuing how to address vacant, abandoned and derelict buildings and land in communities across Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders by engaging with community councils, constituents, the Land Commission and the Local Authorities as well as the Scottish Government. Across Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders alone, we have many derelict buildings – like the Dumfries Interfloor Factory, Stranraer’s George Hotel, Annan’s Central Hotel and Moffat’s Mercury Hotel – which blight our communities and which need to be dealt with. My constituents refer to these buildings as an “eyesore in the community”.
“Over the years, numerous efforts have been made by the Heathhall Community Council, and members of the respective communities of Locharbriggs and Heathhall, as well as by local elected members, to address this building to find a better use for it, and its associated land rather than an abandoned site. However, aside from one Development Brief in 2019, and a metal security fence around the site, Dumfries and Galloway Council have not pursued a comprehensive development plan to address this eyesore site.
“It is time for the Council to take urgent action for this site to be changed. More widely, action to tackle the former Interfloor Factory is of paramount importance to the health and wellbeing of residents within its respective areas. Indeed, in 2016 the findings from research into derelict areas in communities and their impact on wellbeing were brought together in a major report by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health. For the first time, this report identified the major causes of Scotland’s “excess mortality”, with one of the factors identified was an “adverse physical environment.”
“The petition I have jointly lodged with the Heathhall Community Council sets our practical steps which Dumfries and Galloway Council can take, within the legal powers, to begin a process of tackling this eyesore former Factory, as well as showing that the Local Authority have the finances available to begin the process. The petition has references to academic sources and to evidence, from various organisations, which demonstrates the very real impact that the many sites – like the Interfloor Factory – have on the mental health of a community. I hope Dumfries and Galloway Council will take this petition seriously, and will listen to the voices of all who sign it.
“In order to be able to sign the petition, you must be resident in Dumfries and Galloway. You can sign the petition online at www.Emmaharpermsp.scot or by contacting my office on: 01387 255334. I will also be speaking directly to residents in Heathhall and Locharbriggs to seek views and obtain signatures for the petition.
“Addressing the vacant, abandoned and derelict buildings and land across our region is hugely important in regenerating and improving our communities and I will continue to press for timely change, so that we can see positive change and a new lease of life for many of these once busy buildings and land. I will, of course, keep all updated on my response from the Scottish Government.”
