A decision has been made to carry out work on a striken building in Glaisnock Street and return it to a saleable condition.

The building has been causing issues with reopening the connection between Glaisnock Street and Townhead fully since last October.

Despite an agreement on the future of the building, it will be another few months before the road will fully be reopened.

READ MORE: Glaisnock Street closure to be extended beyond summer months

In October 2021, during the final phase of the demolition a section of stonework adjoining 18/18A came loose and fell onto the pavement and road.

This meant that a road closure had to be put in place and a consultant structural engineer was appointed to carry out a detailed report that led to temporary shoring of the front façade and a partial reopening of the road.

Legal services worked to establish the legal ownership of the property and discovered that the last registered owner, Trustcare Properties Ltd, has been dissolved.

Cumnock Chronicle: Glaisnock Street works (Image- Charlie Gilmour)Glaisnock Street works (Image- Charlie Gilmour) (Image: Charlie Gilmour)

This left two other parties with heritable securities over the building, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and Scottish and Newcastle Limited, and to date neither has indicated that they will recall their security and take title.

The decision has been taken for Cabinet to fund the £107,000 worth of works to return the building to a safe condition.

Works will be undertaken on the property with a timescale of three to four months, including appointment of a main contractor.

The property will then be advertised for sale on the open market.

Councillor Douglas Reid, leader of the council said: "We need to get the road reopened and our local business back to normal, we are focused on making sure this happens as quickly as possible while protecting the significant investment the council has recently made in Cumnock town centre.

“If the parties that hold security over the properties decide to call up their security and market 18/18A for either sale or rent, the council will place a charging order on them that will secure any expenditure the council makes in relation to the property.

"If neither party calls up their security, the council will apply for a vesting order and will take ownership of the property, which will then be sold or rented out, once the works are completed.

“Bottom line, the works are going to be done, the road will be fully re-opened by the end of the year and action will be taken to protect the public purse by ensuring robust measures are in place to recoup any investment expenditure.”