Railway Hotel: Housing planned for site of former Auchinleck hotel

The much-loved venue on Main Street was demolished last month, having lain empty since the hotel's doors were closed in September 2020.

A once-popular venue for weddings, birthday parties and dinners, the initial closure of the hotel came as a surprise to staff and locals.

Once it was announced that the hotel would be demolished, local residents speculated that housing might be built on the site.

Maybole-based company, J.B. Black took charge of the demolition work, which started a month ago.

Now it seems like the prediction of the hotel being replaced by houses may come true.

Demolition work started last month. (Image: Charlie Gilmour)

A 'prior notification for demolition' notice for the former hotel building has been published on East Ayrshire Council's website.

Lodged by LMA Architects on behalf of owner John Campbell, the notice says that the cleared site will be the "subject of planning application" for a "proposed housing development" following pre-application discussions.

According to an outline of the proposed development, the new houses could take up the land of where the Railway Hotel was, as well as the vacant land on School Road which was formerly occupied by the old Auchinleck Primary School.

The inside of the function hall at the Railway Hotel, just as demolition was starting. (Image: Charlie Gilmour)

The Chronicle has previously tried to contact to the owner of the building.

When asked for their views on the future of the Railway Hotel following its closure, Chronicle readers - at least on our Facebook page - favoured bringing the building back to life in some form rather than seeing it demolished.

The notice was received by East Ayrshire Council on March 13 but was not validated and published until April 3.

The Chronicle was present when demolition work on the building began on March 7.