Green light for appeal to demolish old Perthshire factory

An appeal by a developer to get a former factory site in Aberfeldy demolished and made into housing has been upheld by Perth and Kinross Council.An appeal by a developer to get a former factory site in Aberfeldy demolished and made into housing has been upheld by Perth and Kinross Council.Phillip Richie, whose company Lomond Group owns the former Fishers Laundry site, now has planning permission after a successful appeal.The old industrial premises – left empty since Fishers, one of the largest employers in Highland Perthshire and deserted Aberfeldy in 2016 – will be demolished to provide for 15 new build residential units, made up of seven houses and eight flats.When the planning application was submitted in 2017, the area where the laundry had stood was zoned in the local development plan as for industrial use only and not suitable for housing.There were some objections to building homes there concerning noise and flood risk.This led to the application by Lomond Group being withdrawn in December 2017 and the project entering a period of stasis.The Fishers Laundry building has grown weeds and accumulated rubbish in the meantime and there have been growing fears that as well as turning into an eyesore, the area could become dangerous to the public and a draw for local youths.The failed planning application was recently taken to appeal, with the compromise measure of adding two ‘light industrial units’ to the plan for homes.It is hoped these units could prove attractive to small businesses in the town.Phillip Richie’s plans got the unanimous support of Aberfeldy Community Council and when an appeal against the previous position was heard, the adjustments to the original layout were acceptable to councillors on the review board and it was upheld.The matter was helped by the fact a new local development plan is in the process of being signed off and is more open to residential development in Aberfeldy than the previous plan was.Now Parkfield House, the old office building for Fishers Laundry and originally a residential dwelling, will be lived in once again.Other buildings will be bulldozed.Mr Clements told the PA the developer had indicated he hoped to incorporate the signature green and white colours of Fishers Laundry into the finished scheme and that the naming of the streets on which the new homes would stand might reflect the history of the site as a hotspot for laundry for more than 100 years.Fishers began in Aberfeldy in 1900 and now employs more than 800 people across seven sites in Scotland and the North East of England.