A PLAN to turn an A-listed former care home in Dumbarton into a venue for group holiday or event lets has been given the green light.

The controversial proposal for Dalmoak House saw West Dunbartonshire Council’s planning committee split on whether to approve it or delay for further discussions with outraged and alarmed neighbours.

A tie vote on both options saw the casting vote of the committee’s chairman, Councillor Jim Finn, ensure the plans were approved.

Residents living next to the site, which has laid empty since 2013 when it shut as a care home, had concerns about noise, loss of privacy, parking and how the building would be managed without any full-time staff presence.

Lords Capital Scotland Ltd were seeking permission to turn the 17-bedroom property into a venue for up to 25 guests in single lets.

Past applications for the 1860s-built former Castle Glen care home were thrown out in 2015 and 2016.

It was put up for sale in 2017 at £1.7 million but its value had dropped to £895,000 within a year.

At the planning committee on April 21, a number of objectors to the latest plans pleaded for them to be rejected.

Neighbour Ashley Williamson-Morton said: “Twenty-five people in a single let use are going to be on our doorstep.

"Twenty-five strangers looking in on me in the morning is what I’m facing today.

“They have not demonstrated a need for this and [the plans] are not sympathetic to the surroundings.”

Neighbours claimed Lords Capital had objected on noise grounds to attempts by neighbours to replace a boiler.

Karen Griffin, who said she moved away from the area after the “negative impact of two previous applications”, told the committee: “I am begging you not to put a building before people’s lives.”

A council officer admitted they had never had to measure potential noise levels for a residential property.

He said: “This whole application is unusual.”

Councillor Diane Docherty questioned the representative of Lords Capital about access to the site and how they would manage noise from guests without any on-site staff.

She also asked whether a fence would help the situation with neighbours.

She proposed delaying a decision so there could be further discussions.

Cllr Docherty said: “I think there’s middle ground here, but we have to continue [the application] to find that.”

But Bailie Denis Agnew said the building was too important to delay saving it.

He said: “I feel that the building needs to be rescued.

“The interiors are outstanding and I think officers have gone to lengths to mitigate any adverse impact.

“We have to rescue this building and ensure its long-term future.”

The planning committee approved the change of use and the formation of a landscaped parking area.

They also gave listed building consent for internal changes to form en-suites within the property.

According to the Companies House website, the only officer of Lords Capital Ltd is the company’s director, 39-year-old Romanian national Lord Ovidiu Constantin De Hertburn.