Owner of the Beach Bar in Lossiemouth calls time
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The owner of the Beach Bar which was destroyed in a fire three years ago has confirmed it will not be rebuilt.
Graham Fleming states that the pandemic has put pay to his hopes of reopening the once popular Lossiemouth venue.
Instead, with a heavy heart, the 49-year-old lodged a planning application last week with Moray Council to allow three houses to be built on the site.
Graham says: "The Beach Bar has played a huge role in my life.
"My parents bought it in 1987 and I began working there as a teenager, cleaning up and doing the bottles.
"It was also a major part of my social life.
"I loved meeting up with the regulars and talking to all the visitors who'd arrived here on holiday.
"It was a really special place and I've missed it like hell.
"However you have to be realistic.
"The Beach Bar was riding high back in 2018 and its trajectory was going up.
"It just goes to show that you never know what's around the corner.
"The pandemic has devastated the hospitality industry.
"So many folk are now borrowing money just to keep going – and there's still no definite time in sight when things will get back to how they were.
"Now is definitely not the time to be reopening a bar.
"It's not a decision I wanted to take, but with every passing month that sad fact just became clearer and clearer to me."
Graham believes that, if granted planning permission, the Beach Bar site will prove very popular with prospective developers and house buyers.
He says: "We all saw the response when the council put the site on Prospect Terrace up for sale.
"The Beach Bar is surrounded by a coastal protection area.
"That means that nobody can build to the left, right, front or back of you."
As to what he'll do next, Graham says he still doesn't yet know, but expects it will be something to do with tourism.
He says: "Lossiemouth has so much going for it.
"It has two great beaches. It has great golf courses, a sailing club and surfing.
"The town is in a great position.
"I'm sure there will be new opportunities coming along in the future, not just for me, but for lots of people."
