Councillors have rejected a Perth pool hall plan despite it providing a new use for a high-profile, vacant listed building.
Pleas from local residents that the Glover Street proposal would blight their lives through noise and parking problems found a receptive audience among the members of the council’s development control committee.
Councillor Calum Gillies described it as “a good application in the wrong place”.
He said the nearby leisure pool and Dewars centre parking was always busy and couldn’t be expected to accommodate the extra traffic generated by a pool hall and noise could disturb children in nearby houses.
“There are too many ifs and buts about this application,” he told the development management committee.
His comments and others opposed to the proposal drew applause from a packed public gallery of objectors.
The change of use application for Ainslie’s Antiques for mixed retail uses including retail, pool hall and tearoom prompted 55 letters of objection but more than 300 letters of support.
Council officials acknowledged that noise could be an issue in a predominately residential area but the fact that it was not to be licensed premises would mitigate this, they felt.
Councillor Ian Campbell expressed some doubts about the viability of the proposal but was told that this was not a planning concern.
”It must be one of the most unlikely sites in Perth for a tea room and a pool room without a bar – I wonder if this business will be temperance pool hall? Is he going to return to ask for a licence?”
Kirsty Alexander spoke on behalf of local residents who called on the committee to reject the proposal as contrary to their own policies.
Committee convener Tom Gray admitted that the plan was controversial but said it would provide a use for an empty building and noted it had previously been a printworks which must have generated noise.
He moved approval but failed to find a seconder among the committee and the application was refused.
