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7 property sagas which have cost Angus taxpayers dear

A look back at seven controversies as Angus Council faces a £450,000 decision on the replacement of Arbroath Community Centre roof despite an uncertain future for the listed building.

Arbroath Community Centre roof is letting in water. Image: Graham Brown/DC Thomson
Arbroath Community Centre roof is letting in water. Image: Graham Brown/DC Thomson

Angus Council is facing a £450,000 dilemma over the replacement of the roof of Arbroath’s historic community centre.

The former drill hall is surplus to requirements after being handed back to the council by its Angus Alive leisure trust.

But its roof is leaking badly and officials say nearly £1/2million needs spent on the listed building.

A decision has been delayed by the cash strapped council.

It is not the first property problem to stretch the council purse strings.

Here we look at seven costly controversies over Angus Council buildings and their future.


1 – St James House, Forfar: Not Asda price

The council paid Forfar firm Don & Low £1 million for St James House to turn the textile factory into its new HQ.

Almost ten years’ later, developers lining up the site for an Asda store lodged a bid of £700,000 for the land.

St James House Forfar
St James House in Forfar became the site of the town’s Asda store. Image: Google

It was going to be signed off behind closed doors before opposition councillors forced its sale on the open market.

The council received 10 bids for the property.

And it eventually netted £1.8m from the same bidder who had offered more than £1m less in the private deal.

Asda opened on the site in 2011.

2 – The Cross, Forfar: ‘Provost’s Inn’ pub plan falls flat

Pub giant J D Wetherspoon mounted an audacious bid to move into Forfar with a £400,000 offer for council offices at The Cross in 2014.

The ‘superpub’ plan prompted a rival £450k offer from a local businessman.

It led to a decision to offer the buildings, including the Provost’s office, for sale on the open market.

Former council offices at The Cross in Forfar.
J D Wetherspoon lined up a private deal for offices at The Cross. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson

Wetherspoons was the only bidder – with a £350k offer £50,000 below its original price.

The sale was agreed by councillors in March 2015, but months later the hospitality chain pulled the plug on the deal.

Voluntary Action Angus subsequently took over the offices at The Cross.

3 – Queen’s Close, Montrose: Homeless hostel no-one wants

Queens Close homeless hostel off Montrose High Street was the scene of a fatal fire in 2007.

The council spent more than £350k refurbishing the 11-bedsit unit following the tragedy.

But it failed to meet new HMO (house of multiple occupation) rules and has not been occupied for a single night since.

Queens Close homeless hostel in Montrose.
Queen’s Close in Montrose has been empty for a decade and a half. Pic: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson

A deal was struck in 2015 to offload it for the bargain price of £110,000.

However, the sale fell through.

It was put back on the market in 2022.

However, Queens Close is still looking for a buyer. The latest closing date for offers was last month.

4 – Lochside Leisure Centre, Forfar: Country park balance sheet blot

The former Lochside Leisure Centre beside Forfar Loch became a £1m white elephant for the council.

It was closed when the town’s new community campus opened in 2017.

Plans to demolish the building provoked controversy – and trigged a landmark Court of Session case.

Lochside leisure centre demolition.
The demolition of Lochside underway in November 2022. Image: Gareth Jennings/DC Thomson

The council was forced to carry out a public consultation on the centre’s future.

But no-one came forward to take it on and the 47-year-old structure was bulldozed last year.

Demolition costs alone were £650k and the total bill associated with the saga topped a million pounds.

5 – Forfar swimming pool: Carnegie donation gifted away

Another Forfar leisure facility replaced by the new community campus.

Fife philanthropist Andrew Carnegie gifted the public baths to the town in 1910.

The pool was on a site donated by Don & Low, next to the St James Works which would later be at the centre of the Asda sale controversy.

Angus Council made several attempts to attract a buyer on the open market.

A deal for an undisclosed sum was struck in 2020.

Forfar swimming pool
The original interior of Forfar public baths. Image: DC Thomson

But it was subject to planning permission and never progressed.

It was offered at auction but failed to sell.

In March 2023, the C-listed building and adjacent car park was sold for £53,000.

Police raided the old pool in August following the discovery of a suspected cannabis plantation.

Three men appeared in court and are awaiting trial on the matter.

6 – Inglis Court, Edzell

Villagers in Edzell reacted furiously to plans to raze Inglis Court sheltered housing and replace it with affordable homes.

They said the council had deliberately run down the once popular complex to push the £3.5m plan forward.

It will see the 25 flats replaced by 21 new houses.

A 750-signature protest petition was delivered to Angus House.

And a businessman tried to avert the threat of demolition with a £400k offer to buy Inglis Court and transform into housing association accommodation.

Inglis Court sheltered housing in Edzell.
Inglis Court was once a popular sheltered housing complex. Image: DC Thomson

But councillors gave the go ahead for the site to be cleared in late 2021 and the bulldozers moved in.

Rocketing construction costs have now forced the project down the priority list of council capital projects.

It will be at least 2027 before any work begins on the empty site.

7 – Arbroath Community Centre: Listed building leaking money

C-listed Arbroath community centre came under Angus Alive’s wing when the council leisure trust was formed in 2015.

Last year, Angus Alive said it would be returning the former drill hall to the council in the face of serious financial pressures.

The council hopes the Marketgate building – along with Brechin and Kirriemuir museums and Inglis Hall, Edzell – could be taken on by community groups.

Arbroath community centre.
Angus Council faces a £450 bill to replace the leaking roof of Arbroath Community Centre. Image: Graham Brown/DC Thomson

Last month, councillors were asked to agree a £450k plan to replace the roof of the leaking building.

The decision was labelled “madness” without a firm plan for its future.

But others say the repairs must be done to make the building attractive to groups who might want to take it on – or a prospective purchaser if it is eventually offered for sale.

A decision on the roof replacement has been deferred.

Conversation