Application at centre of controversial planning row rejected

Councillors have rejected plans to convert a former care home in a small Angus town into a 35-bedroom multiple occupancy residence.

The decision comes after months of controversy and objections from residents.

Some local people raised fears that the developers would use the former Lochbank Manor in Forfar to house migrants, and more than 600 representations were made to Angus Council.

But about 160 had to be redacted by the local authority because it said the claims were "variously untrue, inaccurate, or likely to provoke unrest, hatred or harm".

The application has now been rejected by the council's development standards committee due to concerns outweighing the positives.

The decision followed a site visit.

Councillors on the committee said the decision was down to concerns about inappropriate living conditions as 10 people would have to share one kitchen in the HMO (Houses of Multiple Occupation).

There were also worries about the impact non-permanent residents would have on the local community.

It was noted that there were positive aspects, such as seeing an empty building come back into use, but at its current stage and with the applicant not having any experience running HMOs there were too many concerns.

Veriton Group made the application to Angus Council on 13 October last year in relation to the former care home which closed in 2024.

Shortly afterwards, local man David Gardner, a former community councillor, created a Facebook group called Forfar Concerned Residents - Lochbank.

He is also a member of The Homeland Party - a group described as fascist by anti-fascist organisation Hope Not Hate. The party says mass immigration has "imported cultures and criminal networks that prey on women and children".

Gardner has also promoted the campaign on TikTok, where he has suggested that a rise in the number of immigrants in the area would lead to an increase in crime.

There are no published figures on the ethnicity or immigration status of people who commit crimes in Scotland.

Police Scotland has previously said there were no markers available on its crime recording systems to do this and they would need to search every individual crime report to see if such information had been recorded.

While the planning application was being considered, a social media and leafleting campaign against the proposals was backed by The Homeland Party - a group which advocates deporting "illegal, unintegrated and unwelcome migrants".

The developers denied that they planned to use the building to house migrants, instead suggesting it may be used to accommodate homeless people, veterans, or victims of domestic abuse.

One local anti-racism campaigner said the row had led to "division, discrimination and hate" and that racism was building in the town.

Angus Council warned about "inaccurate or malicious speculation that has no basis in truth and potential to harm our communities".

It follows a series of anti-asylum seeker protests in towns and cities across the UK last year, including Aberdeen and Falkirk.

In December Veriton Group published a letter making clear that their HMO application "does not relate to the housing of asylum seekers or immigrants at Lochbank Manor".

It said it was working with housing associations in England and Scotland supporting veterans, survivors of domestic abuse and people experiencing homelessness.

It added: "Nothing is finalised and no group has been selected or considered a front-runner at this early stage of the application process."

If the company opted to use the property to house homeless people, some of them could be migrants who had successfully claimed asylum.

But research by BBC Verify has found that the number of people in that category in the region is very small.

The latest available data published by the Scottish government shows there were 320 homeless applications to Angus Council between April and September 2025.

However, no more than five of them were from people granted refugee status or leave to remain.

In the 12 months to the end of September 2025 there were a total of 660 homelessness applications in Angus, with 10 of them from people granted refugee status or leave to remain, and none under the Homes for Ukraine visa scheme.

Ahead of the meeting in April to discuss the HMO application, an Angus Council spokesperson said: "Contrary to some speculation, there is no indication that it will be a home for people seeking asylum.

"As a council, we will always respond to inaccurate or malicious speculation that has no basis in truth and where it has the potential to harm our communities, the people who live within them and those who come to live in Angus."

One member of Forfar Against Racism, who asked not to be identified, said: "Forfar has always been a vibrant and welcoming community until November last year.

"Now we can see and hear the racism building in the town. It has become the norm and it is frightening.

"The town fell under a dark cloud of division, discrimination and hate against asylum seekers and the LGBTQIA community.

"It has created an atmosphere of fear and division within our community."

The Homeland Party said it supported the right of local residents to campaign, to object, and to speak openly about the impact of immigration policy on their communities.

A spokesperson said: "This is a genuine grassroots local campaign against a major proposal in Forfar.

"Dave is one man out of more than 650 people who have formally objected, with many more local residents sharing the same concerns.

"To present this as though it were simply the conduct of one individual is misleading."

David Gardner said: "People being aware of the risks, based on what has been happening in similar towns from Dumfries to Elgin, is not misinformation. It is common sense.

"This is not racial profiling. It is pattern recognition based on repeated policy failure, repeated community concerns, and repeated consequences that ordinary people are then expected to live with."

He added: "People are entitled to be angry that those who enter illegally can still be housed and supported at public expense, even where many claims do not succeed at the first decision.

"That is not offensive language. It is a statement about a failed system and its cost to the public."