Go-ahead for solar panels on former Wick cinema and social club
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Highland Council has given the go-ahead for solar panels to be installed on the roof of a former cinema and social club in Wick.
Planning permission was granted last week for the development at the old Dounreay Social Club in Breadalbane Crescent on condition that work starts within three years.
The project involves a change of roof covering and will bring a derelict building back into use within the Pulteneytown conservation area, according to the local authority.
The applicant was Calum Steven.
Images submitted in support of the application show the building in a ruinous state, with huge gaps between decaying rafters.
A resident of Breadalbane Terrace, Alexander Campbell, objected to the new roof.
"It would be absolutely disgraceful for such an iconic building to have such an unnatural appearance within this conservation area," he said.
"Everyone within the conservation area has to be seen to adhere to the conservation rules when they are doing alterations to their homes – this seems to neglect those rules.
"I'm all for derelict buildings within Wick to be brought back to life but this would be absurd."
Council planning documents state: "The proposal is to replace the roof and to install solar panels.
"This is bringing a derelict building back into use within the conservation area. The materials to be used on the roof are materials that have been in use for the last 150 years.
"The colour of the sheets shall be dark blue/grey or black. The solar panels on the front of the roof shall have minimal visual impact and shall not be detrimental to the appearance or character of the building."
The property is listed on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland. The register notes that the building began life in 1911 as the Breadalbane Hall and later incorporated one of Wick's two cinemas.
It adds that the building was damaged by fire in 1933 and internally rebuilt around 1935/36. After it ceased to be used as a cinema, around the early 1960s, it was converted into the Dounreay Social Club – a popular venue for dances and other social activities until it closed in 2007.
