PLANS to bring an historic Scottish harbour back into greater public use have been lodged.

It is understood a bid has been launched with the UK Levelling Up fund for more than £8m for the community-driven project in Dumfries and Galloway.

The local community, led by Annan Harbour Action Group (AHAG), wants to transform the harbour so that it can recover its place as an important economic, cultural and environmental resource for the town’s residents and visitors.

The group is in the process of taking ownership of a run-down warehouse known as Collett’s building, an area of derelict land known as the Minister’s Merse, and soon the quayside, as key spaces to lead that regeneration process.

The design statement by Arc Architects on behalf of AHAG said: “Annan is a historic town that sits at the meeting of land, river and sea, with a thousand-year heritage of fishing, trade and smuggling, of shipbuilding, emigration and Robert Burns.

“Over the last hundred years that traditional life has faded, leaving Annan’s waterfront half-forgotten, blighted by disused buildings and contaminated land, derelict ships abandoned in a silted-up harbour, and the Harbour Authority moribund.

“It is time for a new chapter.”

The Herald: How the harbour might look.How the harbour might look.

In 2004, Dumfries & Galloway Council commissioned a report on the future of the area, which identified a range of regeneration options. In 2010, a masterplan provided a detailed framework for the regeneration of the town.

In 2020, a business plan established a sustainable long-term financial and operational strategy, and a technical report assessed the condition of the landscape and buildings, proposing costed redevelopment proposals for landscape enhancement, a recreational lagoon and retro-fit of the warehouse to create a visitor attraction and accommodation.

In 2021, a blueprint for Annan was published, setting the context for the harbour within the wider cultural and economic regeneration of the town.

This year, Dumfries and Galloway Council and South of Scotland Enterprise funded the development of detailed design work and site investigations which form the basis of the planning application supported by this design statement and associated drawings and technical information.


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