Irvine: Plans submitted for former Tony Macaroni restaurant

A planning application has been lodged with North Ayrshire Council in relation to the vacant Riverway Retail Park restaurant.

The Italian chain closed on May 20 last year when a notice was placed on the restaurant's entrance door confirming that it would no longer be in operation.

But new life could be brought back into the prime Irvine location, with not just one but two businesses possibly coming on board.

The planning application has been lodged with NAC on behalf of Irvine Nominees Ltd.

Their proposal seeks permission to divide the building into two separate units, with different businesses occupying each one. 

One part of the building will remain as a hospitality business under the plans, with the formal application stating that the intended use is as a coffee shop.

The other half of the building is earmarked for use as a travel agent's shop.

No further detail is provided on whether the units will be occupied by existing businesses with premises elsewhere, or whether they will be independently operated by new retailers.

Documents submitted with the application add: "The unit facades will remain largely unchanged with new front doors proposed for both units."

These front doors would be located around the current outside seating area for the smaller of the two separate units. The entrance for the larger unit would remain at the previous front porch.

The application does not explicitly state which business would be moving into which unit.

A separate application is to be submitted at a later date in relation to signage for both businesses.

The current planning application was submitted to North Ayrshire Council for consideration earlier this week.

It is currently pending consideration and can be viewed in full via the council's online planning portal searching for reference 24/00399/PP.