Another knock back for BrewDog's plans to come to Inverness
BREWDOG has suffered a second blow to its plans to come to Inverness after another planning application was rejected.
Planning officers at Highland Council have refused the hip pub chain’s proposals for “minor” alterations to the shopfront at the former Ashers bakery and café in Church Street.
The craft beer producer had set out plans for limited changes to the shopfront, retaining as many of the original features as possible, including wood panelling and windows.
It said this would result in a “simple, contemporary shopfront, fitting of the Old Town Conservation Area.”
However, in his rejection of the scheme, area planning manager David Mudie said: “The proposed retention of the existing façade is not considered to represent an improvement, or make a positive contribution to enhance the shop frontage and streetscape within the Inverness Old Town Conservation Area.”
This latest rejection is the second in a matter of weeks for the pub chain which announced in January that it intended to open a new
bar in the Highland capital.
Last month an application for change of use for the premises from a commercial unit to a public house was rejected because it was felt it contained insufficient information, particularly in relation to the extraction of odours from a planned pizza oven.
Plans by BrewDog to bring their brand to Inverness were previously welcomed by both Inverness Business Improvement District and Inverness Chamber of Commerce.
BrewDog was launched in Fraserburgh in 2007 by friends Martin Dickie and James Watt.
The company has grown rapidly in the past few years and now employs more than 100 staff in dozens of bars across the UK as well as seeing international expansion.
Related article: Plans to bring a leading bar brand to Inverness city centre are in doubt after BrewDog application is rejected
