The site lies on the western edge of the town of Annan with part fronting the High Street which can be seen on approach into the town.
This site was acquired in March 2017. The Association acquired the building which fronts the site onto the High Street as well as the land behind. In total, 27 new properties have been provided, a mix of new build accommodation to the rear and the front building being refurbished to provide 5 new flats.
Cunningham Housing Association has a huge social housing development programme in place for Dumfries & Galloway, over the next three to five years, that will provide over 300 homes for rent. They are also currently building homes in Annan & Lockerbie and all the properties will be available on the Dumfries & Galloway Common Homes Register.
Cunningham Housing Association have:-
- two sites in Gretna and Annan, comprising 117 units, which will be fully occupied by the end of March.
- a further site in Annan which will give us another 22 completed units later in the spring with a further 38 to follow next year.
- two sites in Lockerbie and Annan, comprising 175 units, starting on site before the end of March.
- further sites in the pipeline in Dumfries, Gretna and Eastriggs.
Set on an historic burgage plot, the site was largely redeveloped during the 19th Century and only the high stone boundary walls and the location and arrangement of the front buildings tell of an earlier origin. The front buildings are late Victorian in origin and the former retail units fronting the High Street had been vacant and boarded up for a number of years.
For most of the last century, a substantial Agricultural Supplies and Machine Hire business operated from the site until closing in 2014. Mainly industrial in nature, the use was inappropriate for a town-centre site and after years at this location, the business moved to new bespoke premises in November 2014.
As part of the process of decommissioning the site, the then owner Carrs Billington carried out strip out and demolition works comprising Asbestos Removal ahead of the demolition of the substantial former industrial warehouses and sheds which dominated the site at the time.
During this stage, and with a view to site disposal, Carrs secured planning consent to demolish the majority of the existing buildings on site and to redevelop the site for medium sized retail use.
By April 2015, all that remained of the original premises were the concrete floor slabs of the former warehouses and a collection of older buildings that are located within the Annan Town Centre Conservation Area toward the High Street (northern portion of the site).
Despite having marketed the sale of the site to a number of potential purchasers (and advertising on the open market) there was little interest from retailers and the site lay vacant.
Cunninghame Housing Association were introduced to the site as a potential housing site in early 2017 and following some initial positive enquiries with the local authority took ownership of the site.
A further phase of demolitions in July 2017 removed the remaining concrete slabs to expose the original ground beneath. Various surveys and investigative works have taken place during the intervening period.
