On 8th July 2022 Perth and Kinross Council stated in a letter to John Swinney that it had set aside £200,000 for essential maintenance to Coupar Angus Town Hall, and that the building would reopen in December 2022. However, just 5 months later the Council stated (again in a letter addressed to John Swinney) that after spending £116,000, mostly on a new heating system in the Hall, it was reviewing the future of the Hall - see letter. It went on to say:
"The future of the Town Hall is something PKC will be considering carefully as part of our wider Property Assets review and our need to consolidate our estate and reduce costs given the pressures we face."
Shortly afterwards, local SNP councillor Jack Welch stated:
"Part of this review will assess cost of repairs and upgrade work needed, running costs, requirement to decarbonise and suitability as a building for continued Community use. Perth & Kinross Council is facing huge pressure to cut costs and ensure we deliver our statutory and priority services hence why this review is taking place."
It seems clear that the SNP administration wants to rid itself of the building to save money.
A lack of money?
In recent years the Council has spent a great deal on vanity projects, mainly focused on Perth. For example turning the City Hall into a new museum is costing £26 million. The Council has also just approved an additional £32.5 million for the Cross Tay Road Link. In 2017 it committed £12 million to decorative lighting for Perth City (a petition against this attracted 1460 signatures). The Council regularly spends huge amounts on the Christmas lights switch-ons (£217,000 in 2016).
So the question is, if Perth and Kinross Council can produce vast sums at the drop of a hat for its vanity projects in Perth, why can it not afford basic maintenance of buildings in towns like Coupar Angus? Besides, if they pledged £200,000 to repairs but only spent £116,000, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER £84,000???
Petition
Coupar Angus News + Information invites you to sign a petition addressed to Thomas Glen (Chief Executive Officer of Perth & Kinross Council) and SNP Council leader Grant Laing, calling on them to give their backing to repairing and reopening Coupar Angus Town Hall, and running it properly with a new caretaker. You can sign the petition here.