A former charity shop in the centre of an East Lothian town is to become the new constituency office for a local politician.,
Conservative MSP Craig Hoy has been given the go ahead to turn the vacant Sue Ryder shop, in Haddington, into offices so he can set up the base.
Mr Hoy, who is also a serving East Lothian councillor, was elected as a South Scotland MSP in the elections in May last year.
Sue Ryder closed all its shops at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and the Haddington branch, on Market Street, has not reopened.
In August plans to turn the shop into a nail salon were shelved and the property has remained empty.
Mr Hoy applied for a change of use after holding talks with the council’s planning officers who felt that given his constituency office should be visible and publicly accessible, it would be appropriate.
East Lothian Council’s town centre policy supports changes of use between shops, businesses and offices.
Recommending the application for approval planning officers said they had received no objections from the public and believed the office would benefit the town centre.
They said: "The proposed office use of the premises is a use typically associated with the mixed commercial uses of a town centre and would not be incompatible with the particular mixed uses of this part of Haddington Town Centre.
"The use of the premises as an office would bring a vacant unit back into active use for visiting members of the public and would overall have a beneficial impact on the vitality and viability of Haddington Town Centre."
Planning permission for the change of use was granted with no conditions.
