Ambitious plans to regenerate Blairgowrie have run into difficulties but the group behind the effort has vowed to fight on.
A £1.1 million visitor centre on the banks of the River Ericht and a cash-generating hydro scheme for the benefit of the community have been thrown into jeopardy by the latest developments.
In December representative directors from the Blairgowrie And Rattray Regeneration Company (BARRC) attended a meeting with government minister Alex Neil, who is responsible for the town centre regeneration scheme, to discuss the projects’ viability.
The minister set up an internal inquiry to assess both projects and made the results known to the directors of BARRC in the last few days.
A BARRC spokesman said, “With regard to the hydro scheme, the problem has largely centred on the eligibility of BARRC to qualify for the feed-in tariff (FIT). This has now been fully investigated with Ofgem and it has been confirmed that the town centre regeneration fund grant precludes BARRC qualifying for the FIT.
“In consequence the income generated would be about £25,000 per annum as compared with the original estimate of £64,000 per annum. The internal assessment concluded that, on this basis, the hydro project was not viable.”
He added, “BARRC has challenged this ruling and, in a letter to the minister, provided a solution to the FIT problem and, at the same time, pointed out that the expense incurred in closing down the hydro project would far exceed the cost of completion.
“The internal assessment, supported by Perth and Kinross Council, also concluded that more work was required before the proposed visitor centre was of the required standard as well as being financially viable.
“BARRC have responded to this by making it clear that all the necessary documentation will be submitted, provided that the timescale for the project is made flexible. At the moment it would not be possible for BARRC to complete the visitor centre in the timescale laid down by the government.
“The minister does offer words of encouragement and clearly indicates that the door is still open to making both schemes viable and every effort will be made to achieve this.
“To this end he has set up an independent inquiry to assess the legal, technical and financial aspects of the River Ericht project. Meanwhile he has stated that the monies allocated to both projects has not been withdrawn.”
Two government representatives attended a board meeting last week to explain the minister’s decision and answer questions.
The spokesman said, “It was encouraging to have their feedback on the meeting. They were impressed by the enthusiasm, determination and interest of all the BARRC members attending and duly recognised the enormous amount of hard work that had gone into both projects over the last two years.
“BARRC now looks forward to the final decision being taken after the independent assessment report has been completed.”