The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
City hall rescue plan collapses
Lease talks ended as applicants fail to convince on finances PERTH:
A plan to breathe new life into Perth City Hall has collapsed.
The latest shock twist in the decade-long saga was revealed after a closed-doors meeting on a bid to convert the Edwardian building into a food market.
Council leader Ian Miller confirmed lease negotiations had been suspended after the applicants failed to convince the council of the financial viability of the scheme.
He described it as “extremely disappointing” and said he shared public frustration at the inability to end the saga.
A council chief has been tasked with exploring “all options” for the future of the listed building.
An ambitious plan to convert Perth City Hall into a food market has been thrown out by councillors.
After hearing that the applicants had failed to adequately demonstrate how the venture would be funded, councillors decided to suspend lease negotiations.
The decision effectively ends the latest rescue plan for the vacant, listed building leaving the way ahead unclear.
Various options have been suggested over the years ranging from a hotel to student accommodation or demolishing the building to make way for a civic square.
With the food hall plan failing to meet expectations, depute chief executive Jim Valentine has been tasked with exploring “all options” for the use of the building and will report back in the summer.
Following a closed-doors meeting it was left to the council leader, Councillor Ian Miller, to explain why they had decided to throw out the only plan currently on the table.
“When councillors agreed to select a preferred bidder for the city hall site in October we were extremely clear that there were a number of pre-conditions the bidder needed to satisfy before we could agree to any lease,” said Mr Miller.
“These pre-conditions were necessary to address our ongoing reservations about the long-term viability of the bid.
“It is extremely disappointing that the bidder has failed to comply fully with these within the timescales set, providing vague and inadequate information in relation to key questions about the available funding to support their proposals.
“Perth City Hall has suffered several false dawns over many years, and I share the frustrations of the vast majority of the people of Perth and Kinross that we have still not found a solution to this key site.
“However, I am not prepared to simply continue making incremental progress with the bidder, when they have failed to provide us with the most basic of assurances.
“Suspending negotiations on the lease at this time will allow officers to bring back a report on all possible options for the site, so that councillors can make an informed decision at our next meeting on the best way forward.”
He added he was “optimistic” that a solution would be quickly identified.
Vivian Linacre, a director of Perth Market Place Ltd, the group behind the plan, said: “Speaking in a personal capacity, I am shocked by this decision.
“I must now consult with our professional advisers in order to decide what further action to take.”