Last orders for Berwickshire pub as conversion plans have been approved
Last orders have been called at a former Berwickshire pub after planners raised a glass to its conversion into a family home.
Coldstream-based Brian Fitzsimmons has been granted planning approval from Scottish Borders Council (SBC) to change the use of the Plough Inn at Duns to a dwelling house.
The watering hole closed on June 20, 2022, after 123 years of trading.
It had ceased trading due to financial implications exacerbated by the Covid outbreak and resulting trading influences.
Prior to the current application being lodged, an unofficial straw poll was carried out within the local community resulting in the confirmation the re-opening of a public house would not be financially viable.
A report with the application stated: “The change of use reverting to living accommodation will help to bring family life back into the town centre, which would have a positive impact on the town’s amenities whilst retaining the buildings in North Street characteristics.
“The property was actively promoted as a public house and it has been advised that the interest in re-establishing the business attracted was non existent.
“A local hotelier gave consideration to the re-opening of the licensed premises and concluded to re-establish the business would not be a viable proposition.
“He also gave consideration to the possible community benefits in re-opening, but the location and property size also determined a negative outcome.
“He concluded the area was adequately served by licensed premises, hence the reason for lack of positive interest in three years of closure.
“To restore the building to living accommodation will have a positive effect of the local settlements.”
In his report approving the application, SBC assistant planning officer Cameron Kirk said: “The building has been gutted since the pub’s closure, and it is now a shell.
“The proposed development would provide an alternative sustainable use for the public house that may otherwise continue to lay vacant. This would benefit the local area as it would improve the condition of the building and ensure that the public house does fall into dereliction.”
When the pub’s closure was originally announced, the news was met with sadness from regulars who recalled “many happy memories in the ‘Ploo” and others calling it the “end of an era”.