A former Moray medical centre is being demolished to improve the health of the area’s council housing numbers.
The former centre in Forres, behind the High Street post office, is to be knocked down to make way for 12 one-bedroom flats with on-site parking. Moray Council confirmed that it has purchased the site from NHS Grampian with the help of funding from the Scottish Government.
As part of the conditions of sale, the council is required to demolish the existing building within nine months.
Forres Community Council welcomed the news, and said local people had been clamouring for more affordable housing.
Chairman Stewart Noble said: “I believe this will be widely welcomed by the community. There is a lack of affordable housing in Forres and I think this is a pretty good use of the facilities.
“Since the health centre closed there has been discussion in the town of what the site could be used for, and most people have mooted that a flat complex would be the best idea.
“Forres has lots of new builds going on just now, but not much at the cheaper end of the scale.”
Preparations are now being made for a planning application to develop the site. Moray Council says a start could be made on construction this year, pending funding.
Chairman of the council’s communities committee, Eric McGillivray, said: “I am delighted we have managed to acquire this prime site for housing, close to the town centre.
“The council has added more than 300 new homes to its housing stock over the past few years and this latest acquisition of a site for further housing development is very welcome.”
The former health centre in Forres was built in 1974, but by 2011 local doctors had said it was no longer fit for purpose.
That year the Scottish Government launched plans to create a new facility in the town. In September 2014, the £5.5million Forres Health Centre opened to patients.
In December 2013, it was revealed that about 3,000 people in Moray were waiting for a council house, with an average of eight applicants for every home that became available.