PLANS which would see a specialist care institution opened in Kilbirnie have taken a step closer to becoming reality.

Permission has now been granted for work to begin on the former Moorpark House Hotel, though all work would be internal only.

However, as the building is listed, planning permission was still required to gain consent to carry out these alteration.

An application had previously been approved in 2016, for work similar to that which has been approved now, and the application stated changes to this were “relatively minor”, so they would appreciate the application being processed as quickly as possible.

The two applications which were submitted (one for the internal alteration and another for change of use for the premises) were submitted in mid-July before receiving approval from North Ayrshire Council this week, September 27.

The work which will now take place includes a reduction in the number of bedrooms in the facility from 17 to 15 and the creation of a small number of consulting rooms.

There is very little work to be carried out in the main part of the listed building and it comprises mostly of a front ground floor bedroom being reused as lounge/reception type of room, which was its original purpose.

There was no physical work involved to enable this, and only sympathetic redecoration will be needed to return it to such use.

A large proportion of the work which would have to be carried out would be on the ex-hotel function room, which was a previous extension.

The bedroom which currently exists there will be converted for consulting use, with five new consulting/treatment rooms created in its place.

The secondary kitchen within the property will also be stripped out, to be replaced by “a more efficient laundry” space and housekeeper's office.

The immediate garden grounds and car parking facilities would remain as they are.

The full application can be viewed on NAC’s online planning portal, using the reference 22/00524/PP.

The application was approved with no conditions, however the council have recommended that the coal authority are consulted before work takes place - as the "development lies within a coal mining area which may contain unrecorded coal mining related hazards".