The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Comrie Cold War praise
The transformation of a “disused and unloved” remnant of the Cold War in Comrie in Perthshire has been hailed by politicians.
THE TRANSFORMATION of a “disused and unloved” remnant of the Cold War has been hailed by politicians.
The fall-out shelter situated deep beneath the former prisoner of war camp at Cultybraggan, near Comrie, was one of the greatest extravagances of that period.
Built at huge cost to protect up to 150 of Scotland’s leaders and key officials from nuclear threat, it was something of a “white elephant” almost from the moment of its construction.
Now, however, the Lincoln-based communications firm GCI Com Group Ltd is progressing plans to convert it to house Scotland’s first high-security data centre.
Perthshire South and Kinross-shire MSP Roseanna Cunningham met members of the Comrie Development Trust to hear details of those plans.
She came away convinced that the trust, which has overseen the purchase and transformation of Cultybraggan for the benefit of the community, has made the right decision.
Ms Cunningham said: “These are very encouraging plans for an innovative and appropriate use for what is a pretty specialised space.
“The data store will provide a service that will be of benefit to a wide range of businesses and there will be a knockon effect for the whole of Comrie with improved broadband speeds.
“At a stroke, the data store will bring more benefit to the local community and to wider society than the unused white elephant of a nuclear bunker ever did.”
The facility was finally completed in 1990 – a matter of months before the Cold War ended – and is thought to be the last and most technologically advanced structure ever built specifically in relation to the Cold War threat.
Construction costs totalled around £30 million – estimated to be around £90m in today’s prices – but was finally placed on the market a year ago by the trust with a guide price of just £400,000.
While GCI Com Group’s offer came in below the valuation, the trust believes it was the best offer and is confident it will offer significant benefits for the community – not least of which will be improved access to the internet.
Ms Cunningham’s SNP colleague, Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Annabelle Ewing, lives in Comrie and has had a long involvement with the trust.
She added: “It is very exciting to see these plans approaching fruition.
“There have been a number of suggestions and approaches regarding what could be done with the bunker but I think this really is the way forward.
“It is brilliant to see economic benefit coming out of what was a disused, unloved remnant of the Cold War.”