Perth church razed to make way for flats

Former home of Mindspace charity demolished as city centre project gets under way

A former church building in Perth has been demolished to make way for flats as a wider development in the c orner of the city centre gets under way.

Perth and Kinross Council applied to knock down the disused building at 6 Milne Street in January and the plans were signed off in May.

The building has been vacant for around three and a half years, since Perth mental health charity Mindspace moved out. It previously occupied the building for more than 15 years.

A statement in the planning application read: “The building is currently vacant and degrading in condition and is no longer considered appropriate for its original purpose.

“The building is not of any architectural, historical or cultural significance. It’s scale, form, materiality and massing do not make a positive contribution to the townscape.

“The site was fully redeveloped in 1957, so future redevelopment would not result in any loss of significant heritage.”

The application states future plans for the site are for eight flats of four storeys in height. Each of the properties will have one or two bedrooms. The surrounding streets are to be subject to major construction works over the coming months, with a significant revamp of the St Catherine’s area on the cards.

Over the winter, developers Expresso Property stressed plans are still on track for a major housing and retail development at Thimblerow car park.

The Mill Quarter project is expected to create more than 50 flats, a shopping centre and cinema, and more than 200 multi-storey parking spaces.

Set to be stacked up to five storeys high on the Caledonian Road-facing side, the £30 million development could bring as many as 125 jobs to the city and a further 200 during the construction process.

Detailed plans for the complex, which it is hoped will bring a further 300,000 people to Perth city centre each year, are expected to be submitted later this year.

Councillors are also anticipating a regeneration project at St Catherine’s Square, which is expected to involve a reconfiguration of the existing flats to make more use of the space available.

The local authority is understood to be analysing options available and securing additional funding for the project.

Meanwhile, behind the tower block, plans have been approved for the space vacated by the demolition of the former Waverley Hotel.

Having initially been identified as a location for a new sports hall and gym, the site will now be used for a replacement church.

Work on the new church, complete with a new glass link between the new church and the existing Church of the Nazarene, is expected to start soon.

The building is currently vacant and degrading in condition and is no longer considered appropriate for its original purpose. PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL