Council condemns ‘perverse’ decision to give city high-rise flats listed status

COUNCIL bosses have branded a decision to award protected status to eight blocks of 1960s high-rise flats “perverse” as they launched a bid to have the decision overturned.

The blocks in Aberdeen were given Category A-listed status for their architectural and historic interest earlier this year.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) said they are of

“outstanding” importance but Aberdeen City Council said it would make modernising the flats more difficult and costly.

The high-rises involved are Gilcomstoun Land, Porthill Court, Seamount Court, Virginia Court,

Marischal Court, Thistle Court, Hutcheon Court and Greig Court.

HES said the move would not prevent like-for-like repairs or maintenance.

But council chiefs have turned to the Government in a bid to have the award removed and branded the decision to list the flats as perverse, following the Grenfell Tower disaster which saw 72 people die during the 2017 inferno.

In a letter on their behalf to the Scottish Government, the council said: “The essence of this appeal is that the listing is unwarranted on numerous grounds. These objections are reinforced by a consultation exercise which produced a support rate of under 0.5 per cent.

“At a time when tower blocks across Britain are under particular scrutiny following the Grenfell Tower tragedy of 2017, the mass listing of eight blocks seems perverse.

“This is even more surprising when they are under active consideration for insulation works to improve their efficiency, something which listing may frustrate.”

The letter added: “It is the appellant’s submission that the multi-storey flats fail to meet the listing criteria, both individually and as a group.”

Category A listings, such as Edinburgh Castle, are buildings of national or international importance.

Category B is buildings of regional or more than local importance while C is buildings of local importance.

Elizabeth Mccrone, head of designations at HES, said earlier this year: “The Aberdeen flats tell us much about how the city and its architects responded to the challenges of housing large amounts of people in the city centre during the 1960s – a time of relative prosperity, low unemployment and optimism for the future.

“Aberdeen City architects department were at the cutting edge of new thinking about town planning and housing.”

She added: “Listing doesn’t mean that a structure has to stay the same forever. Rather, it means that there is a special interest that should be taken into account in the planning process.”

The proposal to list the buildings came from Miles Glendinning, a professor of modern architecture at Edinburgh College of Art.

A Government reporter will issue a decision in due course.