The under-fire owner of a dilapidated former Perth church, which has lain empty for nearly 30 years, has hit back at the council, stating he will fight an urgent repairs notice.
James Boyd, a director with Arengate Ltd, told The Courier he would sell St Paul’s Church “in a minute” if he received a good offer from Perth and Kinross Council.
The Northern Irishman, who also runs Belfast-based Simple Marketing Global, claimed he has contacted Heritage Lottery Fund Scotland and the council for financial help to convert the crumbling building into a café/heritage centre, but has received “no guarantees” from any of them.
And he also stated that he would invest £1m into the former church, which closed its doors back in 1986, if the council pledged the same amount of money.
Mr Boyd was reacting to an urgent repairs notice which has been issued to Arengate Ltd by the council, and this orders them to carry out emergency works on the building by June 1. Otherwise, the local authority will step in, complete the work themselves and then bill Arengate for the repairs, which they have estimated will cost around £400,000, excluding VAT.
This followed an inspection of St Paul’s Church by structural engineers. As a result, a schedule of works was issued to Arengate Ltd in November last year.
But Mr Boyd has slated the local authority, alleging all he has had is “threats” from council chiefs and stated he will fight the urgent repairs notice.
He admits the building is a “loss loser” and also revealed that he was previously willing to sell St Paul’s Church to an Islamic organisation, but claimed the route the council is taking is the wrong one to go down.
“I’ve spent £80,000 on St Paul’s Church and put scaffolding up to safeguard it and made it watertight and secure,” he said.
“I’ve had the building valued at around £800,000, so if the council will put in £1m I will match that. That is a better option of them taking out this urgent repairs notice, spending around £310,000 of taxpayers’ money on this work, getting a compulsory purchase order to take it over from me and then me folding this company (Arengate Ltd).
“I’ve approached the Lottery Fund Scotland and the council for help with funding but I get no guarantees.”
He continued: “I have no duty to carry out repairs on St Paul’s Church through Scots law. The building was derelict for at least 10 years before I took it over so I will fight this repairs notice every inch of the way.
“I don’t know what to do with the building, but if the council want to buy it they can do so tomorrow.”
Councillor Peter Barrett, who has been a long-term campaigner for action taken to transform St Paul’s Church, said: “The saga over St Paul’s must be brought to a conclusion. In the past the financial risk to the council of executing a works order, in the event of the owners being unable to pay for the cost of repairs, has deterred proactive enforcement interventions.
“However, there comes a point where the on-going deterioration of the building has to be stopped. Decades of private sector ownership of the building have failed to regenerate St Paul’s and have blighted the city centre.”
A spokesman for the council said: “The urgent works notice has been served on the building owner with a view to ensuring in a cost-effective way that the building is preserved from further deterioration and does not present a public health and safety risks.
“Contrary to what has been suggested, the council has provided detailed and extensive guidance and information to present and previous owners of St Paul’s Church alike. This has all been in efforts to assist and advise them regarding their responsibilities and where potential funding can be accessed to undertake required works.”
