Bowhill: Fife Council had knocked back Auld Hoose plans

Asif Hussain is hoping ministers will overturn the decision and grant a change of use for the Auld Hoose, which dates back to around 1910, on Main Street.

Councillors on the west and central planning committee voted 8-6 for refusal in August, deciding that not enough effort had been put in to try and find someone to keep it going as a pub.

The council's planning service had recommended approval and the appeal said: "It was demonstrated that the property had been empty and disused for nearly five years at time of application, but the committee decided that in their opinion the property had not been marketed properly, despite signage and being marketed on the internet."

Mr Hussain, of Victoria Road in Kirkcaldy, also owns the Kings in Kelty and a number of other licensed premises.

A statement on his behalf said that the Auld Hoose, in line with all other pubs and hospitality businesses, had to close at the outset of the pandemic.

Around this time the property was sub-divided with permission granted to turn the upper floor into accommodation.

When Covid-19 restrictions were lifted the pub did not re-open and was put up for sale as a going concern.

It attracted no interest and was listed on an auction house's website in January 2023.

READ MORE: Plans to turn The Auld Hoose pub in Bowhill into flats

The statement said: "After six months of advertising and not one enquiry my client bought it with the intention of re-opening it - my client owns and successfully manages several public houses in neighbouring towns.

"It was advertised locally via local community pages to gauge interest, however this was met with little to no uptake.

"It was at this point my client decided to look into converting the property to bring it into use.

"The building was vandalised in December 2023 with all the windows being smashed due to the empty nature of the property at this time."

It added that, when Mr Hussain took ownership of the pub in the summer of 2023, he put up signs advertising the property for let and it was still being advertised on "local internet sites".

The appeal said that marketing was the "only contentious point" with the proposals and concluded that granting the application would provide "much needed" accommodation and bring back into use an empty and derelict building.

At the committee in August, councillors heard that the loss of a community facility, such as a local pub, can be accepted if there is evidence, after the property has been marketed for at least 18 months, that the existing business use is not viable and the building cannot be used for the existing purpose.

Committee convener David Barratt had moved refusal and said: “The property was put up for sale in January 2023 and then it says ‘it failed to generate leads’ but it then sold in July 2023?

"I think you could frame that as it was snapped up. A property of this scale isn’t the easiest thing to sell.

“The fact it did sell within six months to somebody who then didn’t advertise it as a going concern in the normal way, I struggle to see how it meets the conditions for us to accept this change.”

There were 37 objections to the application and 11 letters of support.