A respected member of Perth Civic Trust has resigned after the body advocated demolition of Perth City Hall.
Vivian Linacre said he had taken the decision “in sorrow rather than anger” but insisted he was left with no alternative.
He resigned after civic trust chiefs said there was “little hope” of a profitable future for the much-loved B-listed building.
Perth and Kinross Council is considering the results of a public consultation exercise launched after plans to convert the Edwardian landmark into a retail emporium foundered.
The civic trust said it backed demolition with “great reluctance” but that waiting for an upturn in the economic climate was not an option.
Mr Linacre who was not consulted prior to the announcement was left flabbergasted by the decision.
A founding member of the British Council for shopping centres, he insists a bright future for the city hall is still possible.
Taxpayers have stumped up more than £60,000 to maintain the vacant building since a private firm was given permission to create an upmarket shopping centre on the site back in 2005.
The plans were mired in controversy and, despite numerous promises and countless false dawns, the company behind the ambitious proposal was finally removed from the project last summer.
Nevertheless, Mr Linacre insists demolition would be short-sighted in the extreme.Abdicate”The council is right back where it was in 2004 with no idea of what to do next,” he said.
“However, that is no reason for the civic trust to abdicate its duty by advocating demolition merely on the same grounds that it too has no idea what to do.
“The original concept for conversion of the building to primary retail use to Perth’s immense financial, urban and civic benefit still has great merits.”
Mr Linacre said concentration on the economic downturn is folly.
“The current adverse economic climate is a short-term irrelevancy for we are concerned here with the future of this great building for a hundred years and more,” he continued.
“Commercial property development is a long-term business. The works programme from planning to fitting out would take two years, by which time the climate globally, nationally and locally will have been transformed yet again.
“Does the civic trust’s policy on the future of the city hall, which has a vital bearing on Perth’s future for generations to come, reverse every few years according to the state of the market?”
Given his background, and as a member of the society of property researchers, Mr Linacre also poured scorn on claims the civic trust had taken “all advice available” before backing demolition.
He said, “Is destruction of the city hall to be the trust’s contribution to the 800th anniversary celebrations and the campaign for city status?”
Mr Linacre added that he was “appalled” the executive committee of the civic trust had backed demolition without consulting the organisation’s wider membership.
The city hall’s future is set to be discussed by councillors “in the near future.”