Firm's ambitious flats plan for Falkirk's historic Burtons building

Local property investment and development company Bellair (Scotland) Ltd is planning to convert the premises, which closed down a couple of years ago, into two ground floor retail units and three first floor flats.

Colin Campbell, managing director of Bellair, said: “We bought the property over a year ago and stripped it all out. We want to create two relatively small retail units with one front facing onto the High Street.

“Then we want to create three two-bedroom flats above.”

Bellair, which owns and operates The Hub in the town’s Vicar Street, has been in talks with Falkirk Council planners to make this happen, but things are going slowly – despite council leader Cecil Meiklejohn’s announcement the council is looking to bring residential properties back to the town centre as one way of increasing footfall.

Colin said: “Our goal here is to take a redundant building in a key location in Falkirk’s High Street and re-purpose it for the benefit of the town. Our proposed floor plan for the retail units and three apartments is in keeping with the council’s plans, with the purposes of getting people back onto the High Street.

“It’s been a slow process though and we really want to get going on the project.”

Another ambitious firm, the REWD – Real Estate Wealth Development – group, is still awaiting planning permission to convert the first floor above Poundstretchers at 150 to 156 High Street into flats.

Bellair has still to submit a planning application for its development.

“It is bogged down in pre-planning at the moment,” said Colin. “We have not submitted our actual planning proposal as yet because we wanted to do all the negotiations beforehand.

“If we were to put in a planning application we would hope it would get planning permission in around three month’s time.”

Colin said Bellair bought the property partly for sentimental reasons.

"My great, great grandfather had a greengrocers in the Vodaphone unit next to the Burtons premises,” he said. “The town has been exceptionally good to my family and we want to do our bit to get it back to its former glory.”