NEW life could be breathed into a former hotel after ambitious plans to transform the building were given the go ahead.

Shops and housing are set to be created at the old Dolphin Hotel on Dunbar’s Queen’s Road.

The building was home to a pub on the ground floor but it has not been open since 2013. The first and second floors were previously used as hotel rooms but have not been in use since 1980.

David Pate, from Dunbar Trout Farm Ltd, who are behind the proposals, was pleased to see planning permission in place, with building warrants and other issues to be tackled before work can start.

He added: “We can see a way forward – I don’t think the conditions they put on us are too onerous.”

Four flats would be created over the first and second floors, with two shops on the ground floor.

The design statement from the developers notes developing the building would not only “retain an active street frontage in the town centre” but also hopefully save the building from “ruin”.

East Lothian Council planning officials gave the scheme the green light earlier this month.

An officer’s report noted the former pub and hotel was on the Buildings at Risk Register (BARR).

However, the plans to bring the building back to life with a new use was not welcomed by everyone.

Three objections were received regarding the proposals, with concerns ranging from the lack of hotel beds already in the town to the “several” empty shops in the High Street and that the proposed shops would bring “noise, litter and increased activity area to the detriment of neighbouring residential properties”.

The report looks at the loss of the hotel, with the council’s economic development manager advising that in its “vacant and unused state the property has become an eyesore within the town centre that may deter potential visitors”.

The report continues: “On balance, as the economic development manager acknowledges, the existing accommodation is not readily suitable for the tourist market and the lack of space within the majority of bedrooms makes it unlikely that they could be upgraded to an acceptable standard.

“Due to the lack of available land and the constraints of the surrounding buildings, there is also little or no scope for extending the hotel building to increase the number of letting bedrooms or to improve the existing facilities within the hotel.

“Moreover, as the letting bedroom (hotel) accommodation ceased operation some 20 to 30 years ago, it would be reasonable to assume that that part of the hotel operation has not formed a significant part of the existing business for some considerable time. Rather until it closed in 2013, the business relied on the income from wet sales from the public bars.

“In these circumstances, the Dolphin Hotel principally operated as a public house for at least some 20 years prior to its cessation of use in 2013.

“Thus, the loss of the thirteen low standard letting bedrooms would not be a significant loss to the holiday accommodation base and tourism industry of Dunbar and East Lothian.”

The applicant also noted the nearby Royal Mackintosh Hotel provided hotel accommodation.

Dunbar and East Linton ward councillor Norman Hampshire was pleased to see the building brought back into some sort of use.

He said older buildings struggled to meet the needs of the present day tourists, with issues surrounding disabled access.

He felt there would likely be a need for new accommodation to be built in the coming years and added: “I’m delighted that somebody has got the confidence to take the Dolphin on and restore it to a modern facility that people can use again.”