PLANS to convert an A-listed former nursing home on Helensburgh's seafront into luxury flats have been given the green light.

Cairndhu House, on the town’s Rhu Road Lower, will now be turned into nine apartments, with a further two built within an extension.

A mews house and four garden apartments will also be added within the grounds under the plans by Panacea Property, which were revised from their initial form to include an extra house.

Argyll and Bute Council granted planning permission on Friday, April 24, despite six objections having been received from the public.

The A-listed Cairndhu House, designed by renowned Scottish architect William Leiper, had lain empty for almost a decade before the initial plans were revealed in July 2019.

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It was closed in 2010, having become a well-recognised feature of Helensburgh’s Waterfront landscape. Panacea Property has previously converted another Leiper-designed property in the town, at Braeholm on West Montrose Street.

The six objections raised concerns over the scale and appropriateness of the proposed development and the proximity of some of the new-build properties to nearby houses.

Fergus Murray, the council's head of economic development and growth, said in a handling report on the application: “This proposal is considered an enabling development as the building is in poor state of repair and considered 'at risk' by the council.

“The proposed site layout will remain largely as existing, with access to and egress from Cairndhu House and the new mews property being maintained from Cairndhu Gardens.

“The existing hardstanding surrounding the main house will be refreshed to accommodate the required private parking provision.

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“Due to its Category A listing and historic significance, it is important that the conservation and conversion of Cairndhu House is approached with sensitivity.

“The existing entrance to Cairndhu house is to be utilised as a common entrance for nine of the eleven apartments within.

“Apartments GF (ground floor) 5 and 6 are designed as a front door apartments and constitute a new build addition to the east side of the house to take the place of an existing 20th century extension, which was completed in an unsympathetic manner and is in very poor state of repair.

“To optimise space provision within the principle ground floor apartments of Cairndhu House, the installation of two mezzanine levels to the less decorative rooms is proposed, in order to provide second bedrooms to what would otherwise be very large single bedroom apartments.

“To accommodate these mezzanines in the areas indicated, the ground floor level will be dropped locally.”

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Mr Murray continued that the design of the garden apartments should be approached sensitively due to their location on the front lawn.

He said: “in order to take advantage of views over the estuary from these apartments, a ‘saw-tooth’ plan form is proposed to the rear, west facing elevations, whilst the overall floor plan takes a more regularised form, permitting an easily planned arrangement for two and three-bed properties.

“The design of the front elevation is more conventional in style, including the use of a tiled roof finish, being sympathetic with the facing bungalows across Cairndhu Gardens.

“The Mews property will take the place of an existing domestic garage building on the site and will maintain the footprint of the garage.”

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