A war of words has erupted after a leading businessman launched a stinging attack on Perth and Kinross Council.
Geoff Brown has questioned whether the local authority has the “drive and vision” required to regenerate the Fair City.
A native of Perth and owner of St Johnstone Football Club, Mr Brown cast doubt on the council’s capacity for rejuvenating a city reeling from the demise of iconic store McEwens of Perth.
He branded council-driven initiatives like the £15 million Perth Theatre project and a controversial £40m road linking Crieff Road with Inveralmond “follies” which would not generate jobs for local people on the scale required either during construction or on an ongoing basis.
Mr Brown, chairman of GS Brown Construction, said: “I am depressed about the state of Perth and fear it will get worse.
“The council is spending £40m on a road to nowhere and coming up with fantasy figures about potential jobs on an industrial park when they can’t sell or lease the business space they’ve got.
“At Oudenarde we have 66 acres earmarked for business but demand is flat. And the only reason for pushing ahead with the road over the bypass seems to be for a school which will be isolated for years to come.
“I have to question if there is a vision for Perth among councillors and senior officials. Very few of them live in the city and I fear they lack the passion to champion our cause. We are being left behind and not just by Dundee, which now has a higher average wage than Perth.”
Council figures released in recent years revealed there were hundreds of properties lying vacant in Perth city.
And while the local authority has been hailed for its strategy to bring them back to life, Mr Brown insisted: “If only 30 or so are coming back into use every year, they are barely making a dent in it. That has to change. To put it in context, their 900 figure is more than the entire total of homes built on the Western Edge. Urgent action is required to step-up the pace, especially in the city centre.
“The devastating news that McEwens is to close will have a massive knock-on effect. I fear other businesses could go to the wall. The council cannot solve this alone but speak to anyone in business whether they are running shops, pubs or restaurants and they will tell you Perth needs more footfall.
“The key to reversing our problems is new jobs which, for the council, should mean spending less on ‘prestige projects’ and more on things that take up local skills. The recovery needs to be jobs-led. Workers can then buy more houses, creating a virtuous circle of investment, jobs and growth.”Council responseIn a robust rebuttal of Geoff Brown’s withering assessment, the council said it was “unfortunate that prominent individuals choose to talk the city down”.
In a statement they said that as part of the Perth City Development Board, they are committed to the regeneration of the Fair City.
“The City Development Board has a broad vision for the future of the city and the ways in which the board aims to achieve this are outlined in the Perth City Plan,” said a spokesperson.
“It’s worth noting that there are a range of factual inaccuracies in Mr Brown’s comments across many of the points he raises. Delivering jobs growth in key sectors such as tourism, food and drink and new technology is a crucial element of regenerating Perth as a city and we are working towards this together with local businesses and business support organisations.
“This is clearly a long-term strategy to support economic growth, however unemployment levels in Perth and Kinross (1.2%) are already very low in comparison to other council areas in Tayside, eg 3.2% in Dundee. Average weekly wage levels of Perth and Kinross residents are also significantly higher at £516.90 a week, compared to £463.30 in Dundee. While we regret the loss of McEwens, we will provide whatever support we can to the affected employees. However, to blame the pedestrianisation of St John Street for the closure of McEwens is a misrepresentation of the situation.”
They said pedestrianisation was not a new concept but retail habits had changed with many people opting to shop online. The spokesperson added that parking options ranged from 15 minutes for free to all day parking in Perth and that the city still boasted a strong mix of shops.
“We would encourage everyone who has expressed shock at the closing of McEwens to step up and support all of our local businesses by ‘shopping local’ and visiting the city not only to browse what is on offer, but also to enjoy the many places for good food and drink and other attractions that Perth has,” they said.
On the issues of empty properties they said their efforts had led to 200 vacant properties in Perth and Kinross being brought back into use and said the transformation of Perth Theatre was part of the vision for a cultural quarter in the city.
“Fundamentally, to support the level and range of services that we have in the longer term, the population needs to increase and planned expansion of the city, facilitated by major projects such as the A9/A85 junction, will deliver that,” said the council.
“It is unfortunate that prominent individuals choose to talk the city and its future down rather than up, particularly where their company has a representative on the Perth City Development Board and these concerns could have been raised more productively through that forum.”