HOTEL SAGA COURT DATE
Ownership hearing for eyesore site
A full hearing is due to take place in court early next year regarding Crieff’s former Strathearn Hotel.
Under the Companies Act 2006 (Section 1021), Perth and Kinross Council is seeking the vesting of ownership of the deteriorating building, and in September issued a statutory notice calling for interested parties to come forward ahead of an initial court hearing at Perth Sheriff Court on Wednesday last week.
And a spokesperson for the local authority this week told the Herald: “The council can confirm that an initial procedural hearing regarding this matter took place last Wednesday at Perth Sheriff Court.
“A further procedural hearing is scheduled for November 13, with a full hearing currently planned to take place in January 2020.”
The unsafe nature of the King Street structure, also formerly known as the George Hotel and
Kilt and Kelt, has been a cause of concern for local residents for a number of years and the court proceedings also coincided with a petition with over 700 signatures being presented to the local authority calling for something to be done about the dangerous eyesore.
At that time a spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council explained:“With the company as owner of the property having been dissolved and the building having been disclaimed by the Crown, the Strathearn Hotel is legally ownerless.
“As a result, we consider that there is no specific prospect of the property being made safe or being repaired and maintained to avoid further deterioration.
“Our case seeks the vesting of ownership for the Strathearn Hotel to the council to prevent dangers to public safety and to improve the local environment, which is blighted by the property’s current condition.
“Should this [action] be successful, we would take the appropriate steps to see the site redeveloped. There is a legal requirement to determine who, if anyone, has a vested interest in the building.”
At the end of September, workmen were spotted removing foliage growing out of the crumbling structure and windows were also boarded up, causing locals to speculate that another interested party is laying claim to the building.