£5m housing plans for former Dumfries and Galloway school site

Under proposals submitted by Moffat Academy Ltd, a sister firm of Richmond Wight Estates, a mix of 41 one and two bedroom high specification properties, which will include wet rooms and contemporary kitchens, will be created from the old schoolhouse. Two penthouses will also be included in the design.

Moffat Academy Ltd expects to obtain planning consent for the £5 million development by mid to end of February 2017, and will aim to open a sales office and show apartment by May.

The development aims to create a whole community for the over 55’s, with the contemporary, easy to maintain homes situated in fully landscaped grounds with a mix of private and communal gardens, along with a community room with library, TV and tea & coffee bar. There will also be an overnight guest apartment for visiting friends and relatives.

The project is expected to create several local jobs, with local interior design firm Manse Interiors working with Richmond Wight Estates, which owns Moffat Manor Holiday Park at Beattock, on several other projects too.

Chek Whyte, managing director of Moffat Academy Ltd, who will be overseeing the redevelopment of Moffat Academy with his son Charlie, said: “We are hugely excited to announce this redevelopment of the Academy, which subject to planning approval, will commence very shortly. We wish to thank the local planning office who have been working closely with on the project. The Academy is a well known and iconic building in Moffat, which will now be given a new lease of life and a new purpose as a safe, secure and stylish place to live for older like minded people.”