Plans have been submitted to bring back some much needed trade to an Ayrshire village.
Ayrshire Live can reveal that proposals have been submitted for a new cafe and shop in Kirkoswald Main Road.
The applicant, Mr Robert Gibson, is seeking planning permission to build a cafe and shop on 29 Main Road.
Proposals were submitted to South Ayrshire Council’s planning department on Monday and are listed as “pending consideration” on the local authority’s online planning portal.
A supporting letter reveals that the site has a long history of previous trade in the village and was once the local grocer’s shop.
The letter states: “About 50 or 60 years ago this property was operated as a grocer’s business serving the village and surrounding farms and was the dwelling place of the grocer and his family.
“At the time, this was one of two shops serving the village.”
The property was then sold to another couple, and they continued running the business (which they expanded into a takeaway food service) and they continued to live in the accommodation.
However, when the next set of owners took over, they continued running the business – but they did not reside in the accommodation as they also owned, or rented, a house in the village.
The letter goes on: “Because the accommodation was not being lived in, and with little or no maintenance being carried out, it has suffered a moderate degree of deterioration – to such an extent that the accommodation is now deemed by the new owners as being uninhabitable."
The property is needing “completely replumbed, re-wired, insulated and decorated,” while the present garage/store is in a “very poor state of repair.”
It’s understood that the previous business ceased to operate in 2021 amid the Covid crisis while the only other shop in the village closed about a year earlier – leaving the village with no shop.
Now it seems the new owners are intending to re-open the village shop and takeaway business, and to expand the business to include a tearoom, with a new kitchen area and new toilet facilities (for use of the tearoom customers).
The architects involved in the proposed development are CASA Design Architects Ltd.
The supporting letter adds: “The plan is to demolish the existing garage/store and replace it with a similar looking building to keep it in character with the rest of the properties in the area – but with a better designed rainwater handling system and a re-located electricity supply.”
Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter here
