Club hopes to play its cards right with appeal
Perth Bridge Club is bidding to overturn a council official’s decision to deny it consent to punch a hole through a boundary wall at its meeting place in Perth.
The group has appealed to the Scottish Government to deal it a better hand after the unnamed official ruled the proposed partial demolition“would affect the special architectural and historic interest” of 49 King Street.
Members applied to Perth and Kinross Council for permission to take down a section of the wall so it can create a couple more car parking spaces for members. But the official said in their report of handling the demolition would detract from the overall appearance of the C-listed building.
The club told the council in a supporting planning and design statement:“This proposal by Perth Bridge Club aims to improve the amenity of the club premises and advertise its presence, publicising its activities and location within the city.
“The proposal includes providing a parking area, including accessible parking space. This will be located to the front of the property by partial removal of the front boundary wall to provide an access and formation of a suitable parking surface within the existing garden ground.
However the official said in his report: “The boundary wall to King Street is included in the listing. Therefore the partial demolition of the wall and [the removal of a] gate would affect the special architectural and historic interest of the listed building through the loss of the historic fabric.
“The loss of one of the pair of iron gates, central boundary wall and the path leading to the front door would also unbalance the symmetry of the principal elevation and original layout of the grounds.”
Now an agent acting for the club has told the government on behalf of members: “We contend that the proposal is a sensitive and relatively small-scale alteration which will bring with it maintenance of the boundary wall and will have no significant impact on the special interest of the building, i.e. the columned porches.
“The Perth and Kinross Local Development Plan 2019 ... presumes in favour of works to listed buildings to ‘enable them to remain in active use’and that‘any development which will affect a listed building or its setting should be appropriate to the building’s character, appearance and setting’.
“We contend that this proposal satisfies these requirements and importantly that improved accessibility will allow this building to continue as a well-located community facility within the heart of the city.”
The government has registered the club’s appeal but it has yet to be assigned to a reporter.