Urgent work is ordered for Barnton Hotel

Emergency work is to be ordered on a crumbling former hotel amid concerns about the condition of the listed building.

The C-listed Barnton Hotel on Queensferry Road had been due to be converted into three blocks of flats but has been lying empty and boarded up for several years.

But the condition of the building has caused considerable concern for local councillors and residents, prompting council chiefs to order urgent work to be carried out.

An "emergency works notice" is now going to be served on Aviemore-based Barnton Properties giving seven days' notice of the work. The council will carry out the works, which are designed to ensure the building remains "wind and weatherproof", before sending the bill to the property owner.

It is hoped that the work will help preserve the building and ensure that it does not need to be demolished.

Dave Anderson, the city council's director of city development, said: "The condition of the fabric has been the subject of concern for a number of years. The agents for the owners have been contacted on numerous occasions regarding the condition and have carried out work to make the building wind and watertight.

"It is now recommended that a more formal notification of the need for repairs is issued."

Work to be carried out will include repairs to damaged windows, clearance of blocked gutters, removal of vegetation from walls and gutters, new roof covering and improved security.

The council has powers under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Scotland Act 1997 to carry out emergency works for the preservation of listed buildings, then instruct the owner of the building to pay the expenses of the work.

The building dates back to 1895 and is included on the Scottish Civic Trust's buildings at risk register, operated on behalf of Historic Scotland. The Trust says that it is listed because it is "an important landmark on a prominent site at the entrance to the city".

Plans to demolish the building were first lodged by Bishop Loch Homes, which wanted to replace it with 56 flats in 2001, although the plans attracted dozens of objections and were refused.

New plans were approved in 2006 which retained the main hotel building but demolished the more modern extensions in order to create 77 apartments.

Following an inspection of the building, the Scottish Civic Trust said it was in "very poor condition". It said: "Downpipes are broken and gutters choked with vegetation, walls are much damaged in areas where extensions have been removed and there is extensive staining from gutter leaks."

Bert Scott, president of the Cramond Association, said: "After the length of time it has been under consideration this would appear to be the right move. Our only hope is that the developer does something with it. It is a nice building and a focal point as you go up Maybury Road and a lot of people comment about it being in a state."