Plans to renovate Neilston pub submitted to council

A planning application to renovate The Travellers Rest on Neilston Road and to add an extension to form a new entrance and terrace to the venue was submitted to the local authority in March.

The proposal that has been put forward would also see the removal of the existing conservatory and a plan to form a new function suite.

The venue, which is currently closed, suffered a fire back in 2021 when firefighters spent more than six hours tackling the blaze.

The Travellers Rest in 2021 after the fire broke out (Image: Newsquest)

Currently, the former pub is fenced off to the public with the majority of the windows being boarded up.

The planning application comes after a recent proposal to bring it back to life in late 2022 was refused by the council in January.

The previous application, which was similar to the current one, wasn’t granted based on several factors.

One of these included that the applicant failed to demonstrate that sufficient, safe, and functioning car parking would have been provided to serve the development.

According to the fresh plans, this time, the applicant believes they will meet all the necessary requirements.

The Travellers Rest on Neilston Road in the village (Image: Newsquest)

While the plans are currently being looked into by the council, one resident in Neilston has objected to them.

They claim that in the past they have been “subjected to high levels of noise and anti-social behaviour, especially at night, when customers of the pub are outside either drinking at tables or when leaving the premises".

They have also raised concerns about the noise from the proposed function suite.

The resident said: "The function suite has a stage which is clearly intended to provide live music which, inevitably, will be loud.

"The roof terrace is accessed via bi-fold doors. As soon as customers access the roof terrace the noise from the function room combined with the noise from the customers will be intolerable outside.

"The pub is surrounded on all four elevations by private dwelling houses.

"The noise will affect them all."

The Neilston resident also expressed further concern for both anti-social behaviour and noise. 

They wrote: "The increased numbers at functions will inevitably lead to increased anti-social behaviour, increased noise from cars starting, from car doors slamming, and from groups of people waiting for taxis."

Hitting out at the plans, the resident continued to say: “This proposed development is totally unsuitable for a residential area.

“A quite ‘village’ pub, it is not."

The council is yet to approve or reject the plans.