Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Councillor raises fears for pedestrians due to work at derelict former Perth church

Graphic of the outdoor space at St Paul's Church, Perth.
Graphic of the outdoor space at St Paul's Church, Perth.

A Perth councillor has raised concerns over possible danger to the public caused by emergency repair work at a dilapidated former church.

Peter Barrett, who has taken a deep interest in St Paul’s Church for many years, has stated he is so anxious about “unstable” parts of the building falling on unsuspecting pedestrians that he has written to Perth and Kinross Council’s director of environment to seek an urgent update on the situation.

He expressed his worries following the local authority issuing a Temporary Traffic Restriction Order (TTRO) earlier this week to allow them to close neighbouring roads off to traffic while work takes place on the B-listed building.

The council took over ownership of St Paul’s Church this month from Arengate Ltd and are keen to press ahead with an ambitious £2 million revamp of the site in order to create an outdoor space. This would lead to the church spire and shell being retained.

The work, which has already seen loose roof slates and unsightly vegetation removed from the former church, is expected to take place over the course of the next 18 months, but Mr Barrett is seeking assurances over the safety of pedestrians in St Paul’s Square and the immediate vicinity of the derelict church.

He said: “I am concerned that the road has been closed until further notice to traffic because of the danger to the public, but nothing appears to have been done to extend an exclusion zone around the building for the safety of pedestrians.

“I am seeking urgent reassurance from the council that the safety of pedestrians in the area is not jeopardised.  It is also imperative that the council clarify what the timetable is for the erection of structural scaffolding around St Paul’s to secure unstable elements of the building and prevent them falling from height.”

The Scottish Liberal Democrat councillor confirmed he has written to the council’s director of environment services seeking an urgent update.

A council spokesperson commented: “A TTRO has been granted for St Paul’s Square and South Methven Street. The length of the TTRO is a precautionary approach which will give the council flexibility to carry out the works as quickly as possible over a period of 18 months.

“We have held a meeting to determine the extent of scaffolding needed and the urgent works required.”

She added: “Council officers will respond to Councillor Barrett directly.”