Volunteer group looking for permission to place plaque on historic Falkirk dovecot

The application, which was lodged on August 14 and validated on August 15, is scheduled to be decided by planning officers action under delegated powers.

A project to restore the nineteenth-century dovecot in Falkirk’s Dollar Park was awarded nearly £60,000 from Falkirk’s Common Good Fund earlier in the year.

According to the planning documents the plaque will read: “This dovecot and the piggery buildings located on either side of it were built in 1834 and formed part of Arnotdale House which had been erected as a family home three years earlier.

"Arnotdale estate was gifted as a public park to the people of Falkirk Burgh in 1922 by its owner, Mr. Robert Dollar, an American shipping magnate born in Falkirk, and after whom this park is named.

"The piggeries were re-purposed as stores whilst the area between them became a small aviary in the 1950s. The dovecot still functioned as such until quite recently.

However. the three buildings had deteriorated structurally making them all unsafe.

"In 2022 the Friends of Dollar Park gained funding from Falkirk Council’s Community Choices Fund permitting them to refurbish the dovecot, including the creation of a

new landscaped seating area in front of it. Following an award from the Falkirk Burgh Common Good Fund, the repair and refurbishment of the two piggeries

commenced.

"The combined project was duly completed on behalf of The Friends of Dollar Park in the summer of 2023.”