PLANS to create a new Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency test centre in Dreghorn have been lodged with North Ayrshire Council.

The application relates to a site on Corsehill Mount Road which was previously used as a 'bus storage compound'.

The centre would be located almost directly across from Greenwood Academy, and adjacent to the local fire station.

This would be used for vocational testing of drivers of large goods and passenger carrying vehicles.

The proposals comprise a change in the use of the existing site to accommodate a Driving Test Centre. The site will be used for vocational testing.

It would be located less than a mile away from the existing driving test centre in the Riverside Business Park in Irvine, which is used for regular car driving tests.

The plans were submitted on behalf of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) late last week.

The facility will be used as a waiting area for candidates and an office facility for DVSA staff.

There would also be parking and garaging provisions for DVSA test vehicles which would include Large Goods Vehicles (LGVs), Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) and bus vehicles - given the use of the site for vocational testing.

The applicant anticipates that a maximum of two examiners will operate from the site, though an enforcement examiner may occasionally work with examiners.

Within the application, the DVSA state that analysis to confirm that the site can be safely and efficiently accessed by bus and 16.5m articulated HGV vehicles from Corsehill Mount Road has already been undertaken.

The site is to be operational throughout the week, with a normal working week for a full-time examiner comprising of four to five tests.

The duration of tests will be approximately 75 minutes, occurring between 8am and 3.30pm.

On the basis that two examiners will be based at the site, up to 10 tests can be anticipated per day.

Given the nature of the testing, vehicle trips are likely to be well dispersed across the local highway roads network.

Plans were submitted to North Ayrshire Council as the planning authority on February 24, and are currently pending consideration.

They can be viewed in full detail via the council's online planning portal, using the reference 23/00123/PP.