ONE of Greenock’s most iconic buildings is being demolished to make way for housing.

The former Highlanders’ Academy in Mount Pleasant Street was closed several years ago by Inverclyde Council and was recently sold to Sanctuary Scotland housing association.

The Tele received calls from concerned members of the public saying they were ‘horrified’ to see the building being bulldozed.

One said: “How could the council have given permission to demolish the building?

“This is another act of vandalism in our ever-diminishing collection of historic buildings in Inverclyde.

“It is heartbreaking.”

However, the council says the developers did not need planning permission to demolish the building because they own it and it is not listed.

The developers needed only a building warrant, which was granted back in February by council officials.

A council spokesman said: “A building warrant is issued purely on whether the work is being carried out in a safe manner or not. It is not a question of whether the building should or should not be demolished in the first place.”

Asked why other former schools such as Jean Street in Port Glasgow and Binnie Street in Gourock were converted to other uses, he said that was because they were listed buildings.

Peter Martin, group director of development for the Sanctuary Group, said they had considered converting Highlanders.

He said: “Highlanders’ Academy has been empty since it closed in 2012, and with the support of the Scottish Government, Inverclyde Council identified the site for much needed social housing as part of its strategic housing investment programme for affordable housing.

“We are aware of the affection there is for this building locally, and converting it was one of the options we considered.

“However, we soon established this was not cost effective and would not provide best value for the public funding being received for this scheme from the Scottish Government.

“It would also limit the number of homes that can be built, when compared to developing on the cleared site.”

Sanctuary are linked to several sites in Inverclyde, including the former Boglestone Clinic and Lilybank School in the Port, plus the former Babylon nightclub in Greenock as part of a £7.5million project to build nearly 120 new homes in the district.