Plans to turn Marress House into a new nursery have been submitted after council chiefs purchased the building last year.

The plans to reuse the vacant tax offices as pre-school nursery complete with an outdoor play area were submitted last week.

The building would also be used as the base for the Housing Department’s CCTV concierge service, which will be relocated from Fullarton Court.

We previously revealed North Ayrshire Council planned to buy Marress House for around £400,000 to transform it into an early years centre to keep up with the demand of the extended hours.

An application seeking alterations to the former Inspector Of Taxes offices and amendments to existing access/parking arrangements on Friars Croft was submitted on Thursday and validated Friday last week.

It would accommodate 42 three to five-year-olds and 21 two to three-year-olds on the ground level and a new ELC professional learning facility on the upper mezzanine floor.

Planning documents state that it is expected 24 staff would be present throughout the day.

If approved construction is scheduled to commence on site in June this year with handover due to take place in June 2021.

It is planned that the new early leaning centre facility will be open to children from August 2021 and will operate 8am-6pm over a full year.

Marress House was constructed in the 1990s as a Tax Office, operating until the mid 2010s, then used as a call centre.

The building was then purchased by NAC in 2019 after falling vacant.