The failed bid by Perth and Kinross Council to see Perth City Hall converted into a retail complex could be examined by an independent inquiry.
The Courier has learned that Linacre Land Ltd, runner-up in the 2004-2005 competition, is pressing for a judicial investigation into the selection procedure that resulted in the appointment of Wharfside Regeneration Ltd, whose plans never got beyond the drawing board, with the council eventually cancelling the contract in late 2009.
The council has now applied for listed consent to demolish the Edwardian building and replace it with a civic square, a move which has sparked controversy, with some calling for at least a section of the hall to be retained.
Of the five schemes on the council competition short-list, two were from Linacre Land, two from Henry Boot and one from Wharfside.
According to Linacre Land chairman Vivian Linacre, once it became obvious by 2007 that Wharfside couldn’t proceed, the council should have invited the two other companies to resubmit, but they were not consulted.
Nor did the council consider remarketing the building, as it should have done, according to Mr Linacre.
“Instead it hung onto Wharfside for another two years and then rushed into a decision to pull the building down,” he said.
“The tragedy is that solely because for some very strange reasons the council chose the one scheme that was unfunded and had no possibility of success, seven years have been wasted, the interested parties have suffered huge losses, immense damage has been done to Perth’s reputation as a shopping destination and as a place to do business, and now for no good reason the council wants to bury the whole fiasco beneath a pile of rubble.”
Mr Linacre says since 2006 he pursued investigations “despite fierce official resistance” ranging from Freedom of Information inquiries to the Court of Session, resulting in a complete dossier which, he says, “comprises a detailed and fully documented narrative of the whole affair together with a series of imperative questions, the answers to which can only be revealed by an independent inquiry.
“I shall gladly abide by the findings of that inquiry, which will determine what future action I might take.”
The council’s scheme for demolition and creation of a civic square is subject to listed building consent from Historic Scotland and final approval by Scottish Ministers funding.