Cities Deal offers Perth a way to shake off past and look to the future Deal offers Fair City a chance to thrive and grow and embrace a new cultural and economic future

There are turning points in history that can only be truly appreciated with the passing of time and, with a bit of luck, 2017 may prove to be just such a milestone for Perth and Kinross.

Hopefully in the not too distant future the perceived wisdom for social historians will be that the Tay Cities Deal was the moment the district shook off the past and reinvented a right new economic and cultural future.

For many years the Fair City has been quietly living on past glories, a genteel town of undoubted historic significance quietly gliding along as the modern world largely passed it by.

If the vibrant future predicted comes to pass it will be recognised that it was the Tay Cities Deal and all the associated projects that propelled the city to new heights, while capitalising on its ancient virtues.

In that city of the future people will flock to Perth to see the reinvented city hall and the world-famed cultural centre it houses.

The Stone of Destiny will triumphantly return to Perth to be housed in either the city hall or the revamped museum, bringing with it the magic of royal history.

The Perth of years to come will thrive and grow, many more thousands of people will live and work in an expanded city made possible by new infrastructure and the new Tay crossing upriver from Perth.

At certain points, this would have seemed a pipe dream – but just as the V&A is taking shape in Dundee, silencing the doubters – this new Perth can only be a matter of time if the deal bid wins the necessary government financial backing.

It may seem a near-utopian vision of the future, but it is time for Perth to think big and start the process of building for the years to come.

The Stone of Destiny could become a major cultural and tourist attraction for Perth.