Scotbet opens in former William Hill Elgin High Street building after completion of transformation work
A firm which has transformed a long-vacant Elgin High Street building has opened its doors to the public.
Scotbet, which is Scotland’s largest independent bookmaker, has been steadily carrying out work on the former William Hill building at 144-148 High Street over the course of this year.
William Hill closed its doors at the premises in 2019 and it has remained empty ever since.
But work totalling £90,000, which encompassed alterations to the internal layout and an upgrade to the front facade, has now been completed and the business opened its doors to the public today, March 25.
That is despite the submission of an official objection to the plans on behalf of “clients who occupy premises in Elgin town centre”.
The letter argued that the alterations will “completely erode the character and appearance” of the area.
It added: “The contemporary design of the shopfront and the failure to use complementary traditional materials does not in any way complement the characteristics of the surrounding buildings.
“The application frontage has a settled townscape character which should be respected and replicated through the use of traditional designs with appropriate materials.
“We therefore believe as outlined above, the proposal is clearly contrary to a number of the adopted planning policies and therefore trust that permission will be refused in due course.”
There were no other objections to the plans.
