Under plans currently being considered by West Dunbartonshire Council, Dunbritton Housing Association will develop 155 affordable homes on the former Ballantine’s Distillery site.

The planning application also includes proposals for 47 additional homes to be built by Cullross Limited for sale.

Should the plans be approved, Cullross will act as main developer and will deliver the homes over the course of the next 24 months.

The former distillery was built on the site of the McMillan Shipyard and it operated producing whisky until 2002. Today, all that’s left is the prominent, but dilapidated, red brick tower which dominates Dumbarton town centre.

An important milestone was reached this week with the beginning of demolition work, which is being undertaken by appointed contractors Caskie Construction and Demolition Services.

The demolition phase is likely to last for several weeks and this will prepare the site for main development commencing in the coming months.

There was also cause for celebration after Dunbritton Housing Association received Scottish Government approval to develop an additional 47 homes over and above the 108 homes which had previously been approved.

To mark both significant milestones, representatives from the Board and staff of Dunbritton Housing Association joined Steven Garry, director of Cullross, on site to witness the early stages of the demolition process.

Significant public interest in the project, demonstrated by the large turnout at the public consultation event held in May 2016, is believed to have stemmed from the prominent nature of the site and the obvious presence of the derelict distillery tower.

Sephton MacQuire, chair of the Board at Dunbritton: said: “This development on what is a prime site will go a long way toward meeting the need for high quality houses for rent in Dumbarton.

“We have waited a long time for an opportunity to develop this site and bring much-needed affordable housing to Dumbarton.

“Dunbritton has a proven track record of working in partnership with colleagues in the private sector and we are delighted to work together with Culross.

“Opportunities like this are few and far between and we look forward to delivering what will be a major improvement to the whole infrastructure of Dumbarton town centre.”

Steven Garry added: “We are all excited to have reached this important stage of the development and we look forward to moving forward with the development and delivering new homes.

“This is a project which captured the imagination of entire Cullross team. We are delighted to be involved in such an important regeneration project, one that will undoubtedly benefit Dumbarton town centre and we are thrilled to be working with Dunbritton Housing Association to deliver so many new affordable homes.”