Cockenzie House arts hub...or return of nursing home
Sam Berkeley • Published 19 Jan 2012 09:18
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HISTORIC Cockenzie House is located on Edinburgh Road, in the centre of extensive grounds and gardens
A combination of art space, a small museum, health facilities, community allotments and a cafe could be the way forward for turning historic Cockenzie House into a community hub, a feasibility study has suggested.
But if the plans do not materialise, the building's owner is keen to build flats. . . and bring the return of a nursing home to the site.
The study was carried out by Edinburgh-based Jura Consultants after the Cockenzie House Heritage Group - which hopes to buy the former nursing home, on Edinburgh Road, for community use - received a £10,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund last year.
And group members are delighted with the positive results of the survey as they hope to secure the support of the residents of Cockenzie and Port Seton so the project can go ahead.
If the group is unsuccessful, owner Jim McDonald has also lodged planning applications to convert the building into a permanent development of 19 flats and one house, and to erect a nursing home in the east gardens - despite the controversial closure of the previous nursing home service in the listed building in 2008.
Mr McDonald has stated his preferred option remains for the heritage group to buy the building outright rather than convert it into flats and sell it off individually, and the results of the feasibility study have been a big boost to the group's mission.
"It was a mixed-use study and at the end of the day it came down to a range of options, including a small amount of residential use," the group's Gareth Jones told the Courier. "There are two flats inside the house itself and the intention is to keep those for residential purpose, perhaps for the holiday home market, to create space within the main barn building at the west side.
"We could then convert it into art studios and gallery space on the upper floors and probably have complementary health use on the lower floor, physiotherapy, podiatry and the like, which would create some revenue from that part of the building.
"The rest of the building would then be given over to community-based use, which might be a mix of extra gallery space, it might be a small museum.
"Then in the gardens we want to create community allotments in the east section, which is derelict at the moment. There's a little gazebo there made out of lava from the volcano at Hekla in Iceland and we'd like to do a little restoration project there. The gardens are lovely but they're beginning to need a bit of maintenance now.
"A cafe might be a part of what we're doing too. It might not be something that would make enough money but the group feels strongly it would like to include that as part of the project because it brings people in and holds them there longer. We might run it on a semi-voluntary basis.
"The feasibility study came out with a really good response for us. We had half expected it to say not to touch it but it didn't."
The study was unable to come up with a valuation of the property but the group is in the process of commissioning an independent valuation so as to get an idea of how much funding it will need to apply for in order to buy the house outright.
As for the group's view of Mr McDonald's applications, Mr Jones said he would be "surprised" if the nursing home application proved successful and added that the group had written to the council with comments on the flat application.
The heritage group's main concern, he added, was preserving the house and gardens, so if the group's bid for a community hub proved unsuccessful it would be "better to have something in the house than nothing".
"We certainly wouldn't want a large derelict building there and at least then it would be saved and have a use," he added.
Mr McDonald told the Courier that the heritage group had "first choice" on the building and that he had submitted the flat application as a back-up in case they were unable to secure funding.
The nursing home application, he said, was for a site in the east garden where he already had planning permission for 30 sheltered housing flats, granted in 1994, and could potentially still go ahead if the heritage group was able to buy the house.
However, he said that on both applications he would wait to see if planning permission was granted and then discuss the matter with the heritage group.
A design statement for the nursing home submitted to East Lothian Council together with the planning application stated that the home could "provide much-needed residential care for the local community" and "provide permanent employment for a likely staff of up to 70". It stated that the nursing home could "help fund the much-needed renovation of the existing walled east garden".
Meanwhile, the heritage group's next objective is to collect a total of 550 signatures from Cockenzie and Port Seton residents, which if met would allow it to register for a community right to buy.
It has already gained large numbers of signatures and Mr Jones added that there were plans to go round the village in the future in an attempt to get the numbers closer to the target.
"This is not something that's going to happen overnight," he said. "The group's making quite good progress, maybe not quite as fast as we'd like, but we can only go so fast."
In the meantime, the group will hope to secure more support for their mission when the Battle of Prestonpans Tapestry comes to the house next month.
The 104-metre-long embroidery will be in the house between February 11 and February 19 and will be shown in small sections in rooms throughout the house.
The tapestry showing, which is being held with Mr McDonald's support and in conjunction with the Battle of Prestonpans Heritage Trust, will also be accompanied by other events, with all welcome to attend.
Cockenzie House Nursing Home was the county's largest care facility with 70 beds but it closed in April 2008 due to financial difficulties, following a ban on new admissions by the Care Commission. Some 80 jobs were lost.
The quality of care on offer at the home, and its subsequent closure, became a major political issue in East Lothian.
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