Councillors have given the green light to plans to spend £5 million on three new cultural venues in Perth city centre.
A £3m blueprint to turn the Lower City Mills into a visitor attraction was approved at a meeting of the full council on Wednesday.
It follows a previous attempt to re-open the A-listed mill, which collapsed when the scheme missed out on Heritage Lottery funding.
Members also agreed to go ahead with plans for a £1.5m exhibition and workspace, to be called The Ironworks.
This would be sited in a former foundry opposite the new Perth Museum.
The third project is a £500,000 food and drink showcase in the tourist information centre on the High Street.
VisitScotland is due to quit the council-owned premises next year.
Councillors agreed to all three schemes after hearing they could bring additional visitors into Perth city centre.
However, Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey sounded a note of dissent, saying they were being forced into “two projects that nobody asked for and one that nobody else would fund”.
Money must be spent on Perth city centre
It comes after Perth and Kinross Council was awarded £5m of Levelling Up funding in the UK Government’s spring budget.
The money comes with a number of conditions.
• It must be spent on cultural regeneration in Perth city centre.
• The council has to submit a detailed bid by June 3.
• And it has to demonstrate that the projects can be delivered by 2026.
Councillors were told the three ideas on the table were probably the only ones the council could realistically progress in that timescale.
And it was made clear that the conditions meant the money could not be diverted to other causes, such as the new PH2O sports venue, or the doomed Bell’s Sports Centre.
What do Perth public want from city centre?
Councillors agreed to include a requirement that officers keep them updated on measures to protect the authority from financial risk as a result of the three projects.
It followed a motion from Councillor Bailey, who said the public would rather see spending on priorities such as PH2O or public transport.
“What we’re being forced into with this ridiculous June 3 deadline is two projects that nobody asked for and one that nobody else would fund,” he said.
Others were more forthcoming in their support.
Council leader Grant Laing said the three schemes were about “adding something special to our city for both residents and visitors”.
And chief executive Thomas Glen assured councillors they would be able to decide whether or not to proceed if financial pressures become an issue in future.
He warned against “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory”, adding: “This is a fantastic news story for Perth that builds on the success of the work on Perth Museum.”
Business community have their say
Around 60 people attended a meeting organised by the new Perth and Kinross Business Partnership in the Concert Hall on Tuesday night.
Head of planning David Littlejohn and the council’s outgoing economic development manager Anna Day were grilled on the plans.
Mr Littlejohn said it was part of ongoing consultation on the proposals.
“We received some very positive feedback and some challenging questions around how these facilities would operate, which was all very helpful,” he said.
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