By Paul Reoch

RESIDENTS IN Perth have expressed concern at the delay in redeveloping the City Hall.

Wharfside Regeneration aims to radically transform the Edwardian B-listed building into a three-level development, consisting of 12 retail units, a cafe and restaurant.

Work has already been put back due to “legal” reasons and it now looks unlikely that it will be open in time for Christmas, as intended.

Several people have contacted The Courier to raise their concerns at the apparent impasse, and they have been joined by Pete Wishart, MP for Perth and North Perthshire, who has written to Perth and Kinross Council regarding the matter.

A spokesman from his office said yesterday, “Mr Wishart wrote to the council back in May and received a response on Friday. This was an acknowledgement of our letter and said that they are still awaiting details from Wharfside.”

And a resident from the Craigie area of Perth, who wished to remain anonymous, added, “I can’t believe the time this is taking. Considering there was so much opposition to the possibility of knocking the City Hall down, you would have thought this company would be keen to press ahead.

“It makes you wonder if they have had second thoughts about the whole project. Perhaps there isn’t the support for the redevelopment that they originally anticipated.”

Wharfside have previously said that the delays were attributable to “legal reasons,” but this does not hold sway with Mr Wishart.

He said, “This is a project that is absolutely crucial to the redevelopment of Perth city centre and if there is any problem or issue concerning this development the people of the city should be informed.

“Wharfside have been given all the necessary consents to start this work, but for some reason this has not taken place. The very strong suspicion is that some outstanding issue or problem remains in the background that could potentially threaten the whole project.”

Such was the interest in the redevelopment of Perth City Hall that the plans were shown at a public exhibition. The building became redundant following the opening of the £20 million Perth Concert Hall in 2005, and there had been fears from a considerable percentage of the city that it might be knocked down completely.

In addition, the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland were keen that the original character of the City Hall was retained in the plans. As a result, Wharfside changed their original plans to allow the ceiling to be left intact.

Perth and Kinross Council said that the matter is now out of their hands as Perth City Hall is now on a long-term lease with Wharfside. Despite several attempts by The Courier to contact Wharfside Regeneration, no one was available for comment.