Tearing down an eyesore

Polmont’s Whyteside Inn was given a reprieve from 
destruction eight years ago when residents successfully campaigned against plans from Bishopbriggs firm Eadie Developments to build 59 flats in three and four-storey buildings on the site.

However, last July 
Strathclyde Demolition Ltd was contracted to carry out the demolition and now that work on the once popular Lewis Road public house has finally started.

Falkirk Council confirmed it received a formal start of work notification for the demolition last Thursday and that work was scheduled to begin on site on Monday with a completion date of April 30.

Councillor Malcolm Nicol said: “It really has become an eyesore and a real danger, with youngsters getting access to it – it definitely wasn’t safe so I’m delighted it will be coming down.”

There were concerns in the last few years the inn was 
becoming structurally unsafe.

Last year Polmont Community Council’s Rosemary Taylor said: “Youngsters have been trying to get into the building and we’re terrified they will fall through the floor because the place is rotten. We were not against the inn being knocked down seven years ago, just against the proposed development that would go in its place.”

When it hired Strathclyde Demolition Ltd, Eadie Developments stated it had “no concrete plans as yet” for the site once it was cleared away.