A fire-damaged hotel, ruined care home and doomed tourist attraction are among the 11 abandoned sites in and around Inverurie which could have development potential.
The Scottish Government has compiled a guide of derelict spots all over the country in a bid to breathe new life into them.
They hope developers will see the potential in these grotty sites, bringing them back from the brink.
We shine a light on the abandoned land being highlighted in and around Inverurie.
Hopes to revive Inverurie spots that have lain derelict for years
There are five sites that currently lay disused, some of which have become the target of littering and anti-social behaviour since the last owners shut their doors.
One of the most prominent sites included in the Scottish Government’s register is the former Harlaw Centre.
The building was once used as a learning facility for adults with disabilities, but due to high running costs Aberdeenshire Council decided to close it in 2015.
It was demolished later on and the flattened site has remained disused ever since, often becoming the victim of vandals causing havoc and strewing piles of rubbish.
Next door, the former Mathers Factory has been empty since 2017. The building was abandoned after the meat processors went into liquidation in 2016.
Site of former Inverurie brewery now lying as dumping ground
Some might remember Strathburn Cottage as a bustling brewery, back when Inverurie beer manufacturers used the 19th-century building as their a base.
But for more than a decade, the flattened site on Middlemuir Road has lain as an “eyesore” – after plans to build flats there were thrown out in 2016 amid flood concerns.
The cottage was knocked down the following year and the site has now become a dumping ground.
Affordable homes could be built on site of fire-hit Inverurie care home
The blaze-ravaged Blythewood Care Home in Port Elphinstone is also on the list.
It was first converted into a care home in the early 1950s, but closed in 2016 and residents were moved to the Bennachie View facility across town.
Two years later, the facility was destroyed by a “suspicious” fire and the site was later cleared out to create more opportunities for redevelopment.
Places for People Scotland last year launched proposals to build 54 affordable homes at the empty spot, with a formal planning application expected to be filed in due course.
Meanwhile, government officials are also trying to spark some interest in the disused land next to the Skyline Trampoline Centre at the Highclere Business Park.
Former hotel and decaying farm fester away as derelict Kintore land
Over in Kintore, government officials are highlighting the former Torryburn Hotel, which was left a burnt out shell after a fire in 2015.
At the time, owner Bob Milton said the Georgian building “was doomed”.
He had initially wanted to demolish the old hotel and build houses there, but these plans never came to fruition and the site fell into ruin in the years thereafter.
Ten miles away in Oldmeldrum, a less well-known site – Coutens Farm – has also been put forward as a great spot for a new development.
Records from 2001 say the farm had lain abandoned for years, with the derelict bothy and chaumer plagued by severe decay and drowning in overgrown weeds.
And more than 20 years later, little has changed there…
Plans to bring Archeolink prehistory park back to life
Many would have fond memories of the Archaeolink Prehistory Park in Oyne.
The tourist attraction, which cost £4 million to build in 1997, closed in 2011 after Aberdeenshire Council withdrew funding due to poor visitor numbers.
Two local businessmen bought the 13-acre site for an undisclosed price in 2023, but the former visitor centre went back on the market in November for offers over £150,000.
The new owners, Mike Bisset and Shaun Scott, are now looking for someone to take on the abandoned building, which they think could be a perfect entertainment venue.
They are also in talks with contractors to build houses there.
Could disused land around Pitmedden be given new lease of life?
The empty land at Duncan Terrace in Udny Station has been falling in disrepair for more than 30 years since the former Muffin and Crumpet Bistro was knocked down.
The eatery closed in 1991 after a legal wrangle over the owners’, Peter and Marilyn Rattray, right to run a business there.
What would you like to see happen to the abandoned Inverurie sites? Let us know in our comments section below
Government officials are also keen to see a 1.7 hectare brownfield, also known as the former Norse Yard, on the outskirts of Pitmedden brought back to use.
The site on the B999 Aberdeen to Pitmedded road has lain vacant for years, now barely visible from overgrown weeds.
Meanwhile, the ruined structure across from the Newmachar Hotel on Kingseat Road has been listed as one with good potential for development.
However, there is little information about when the building was last used and how it ended up being in such a dire state.
Read more:
- Taste of Garioch to DOUBLE in size in bid to make Inverurie ‘the foodie capital of Aberdeenshire’
- From bloody battlefields to 10,000 year old artifacts: Take a look at the top heritage sites in Inverurie
- Inverurie drivers say axing free parking is ‘deterring people from town centre’ as dozens of spaces lie empty on day one of charges
Conversation