The cost to taxpayers of maintaining the mothballed Perth City Hall has topped £100,000, it has been revealed.
The vast majority of the money has been spent on heating the empty Edwardian building, with a staggering £60,000 consumed by gas and electricity since 2005.
Figures obtained by The Courier under Freedom of Information legislation illustrate both the scale of the bill and the escalating nature of the financial burden.
More than £17,000 was spent on the building over the past year, £14,000 more than in either of the two previous years and a greater sum than in any 12 months other than those directly after its closure.
The Taxpayers Alliance has now entered the controversy, with its campaign director Robert Oxley calling on all parties to bring the saga to an end as a matter of urgency.
“An inordinate amount of money has been wasted while this building has sat empty,” he said.
“One way or another, a decision about its future needs to be made and followed though.
“It can’t be left to decay while taxpayers pick up an ever increasing bill for it.”
The revelation comes as National Trust for Scotland Chairman Sir Kenneth Calman warned of an increasing threat to the country’s heritage.
Sir Kenneth called for planning laws to be overhauled in a bid to protect sites of importance in the wake of a Scottish Government decision to allow houses to be built near Culloden Battlefield.
Opponents of Perth City Hall’s demolition have endorsed Sir Kenneth’s views, warning that if Historic Scotland grants Perth and Kinross Council permission to demolish the listed hall it will set a precedent for other councils.
Following a lengthy meeting in December last year, councillors unanimously decided that the city hall should be demolished after rejecting the sole rescue bid, put forward by the Perth City Market Trust.
The local authority must now seek listed building consent from Historic Scotland before it can progress its plan to create a civic square.
Further meetings and consultation will be required before that can happen, however, and so its decision is not likely to be made before April.
In the meantime, maintenance and repair costs will continue to rise.
Hundreds of pounds each year are spent on maintaining fire alarms and emergency lighting, on plumbing and heating and on ceiling and window repairs.
Significant sums have also been spent on removing pigeons and their droppings from the building – £1,200 in 2008-09 alone together with protecting it from further bird incursions.
In 2012/13 the sums being spent by the council increased markedly, with £9,000 being spent on removing rot from the Lesser Hall’s kitchen area and £2,000 spent on a refurbishment/demolition survey.
The expenditure has been regarded as a necessary cost while the future of the hall remains undecided.