29-05-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Efforts to buy North Queensferry's Albert Hotel raised in Westminster
Last month, the North Queensferry Trust vowed to continue their fight after Scottish Ministers rejected their application for a community right to buy of the premises.
The organisation want to restore the historic building for the good of the village and have lodged an appeal against the judgement.
Addressing the Leader of the House, Lucy Powell MP, Ms Ward said community ownerships of assets can be "incredibly valuable".
She continued: "In North Queensferry, the community is working hard to take ownership of the Albert Hotel, but their efforts were blocked by SNP government ministers who rejected their application to exercise their right to buy."
In response, the Leader of the House stated: "I'm really sorry to hear that the Scottish Government has rejected the application for her constituent. That is something that I don't think should have happened. We will be debating the importance of community right to buy in forthcoming legislation."
Melanie Ward MP at the Albert Hotel. (Image: Contributed) Ms Ward also recently met with Iain Mitchell, Chair of the North Queensferry Community Council, during his visit to Westminster. They discussed the importance of the hotel to the community and the widespread local support for the Save the Albert campaign.
She added: "The Albert Hotel is a much-loved part of North Queensferry's identity. The SNP Scottish Government's decision to deny the community the chance to secure it for public use is short-sighted and deeply disappointing.
"I will continue to press for this decision to be reversed and show my support to the Save the Albert campaign. Local people deserve to be listened to on the future of their communities.'
The Albert Hotel's owners, Festival Inns, previously applied for a change of use so they could convert the C-listed building into flats but this was met with 133 letters of objection.
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The plans were rejected by Fife Council's west and central planning committee and an appeal to the Scottish Government also failed.
Villagers in North Queensferry then formed the not-for-profit company, The Albert Community Group Ltd, with the aim of buying the building and restoring it for community use.
They previously said that if successful, it is hoped the bar would be returned to the ground floor, with a restaurant created and rooms made available to community groups.
Following the decision to reject the community right to buy application, Trust chair Iain Mitchell said they had identified "a number of procedural and substantive errors" both in the process and the decision.
"We are going to exercise our right to take an Appeal to the Sheriff," he added. "The fight to save the Albert continues."
