Perth City Square
A civic square in Perth city centre
The Council was notified on 9 May 2012 that proposals for a new
civic square had not been approved by Historic Scotland. The
Council will consider Historic Scotland’s decision carefully
and examine the detail of the reasons for refusing this
application. Our priority is regenerating the city centre and
providing jobs and this will continue to be our focus in plans for
Perth.
Why did the Council propose a new civic
square?
The area around the City Hall building is an important central
site in the city centre. It has the potential to generate
significant economic benefits for Perth.
Experience had shown that commercial use of the City Hall was not a
viable option.
The decision to move forward with demolition of the City Hall and
the creation of a civic square was taken by members of the Council
in June 2010, following a major public consultation exercise which
considered the following options:
- Do nothing/do minimum and leave City Hall as it is until the
economic climate improves
- Re-use the City Hall building for another purpose
- Partially demolish the City Hall building to create a new small
public space and keep part of the building
- Fully demolish the City Hall building and create a civic
square/public space
- Fully demolish City Hall and then create a new building on the
site
The option of full demolition and the creation of a large public
space was supported by a significant proportion of the public and
local businesses, and was also supported by an economic appraisal
prepared by expert consultants.
History of the propsals
Listed building and planning applications for the demolition of
City Hall and the creation of a new public space were approved by
the
Development Control Committee on Wednesday 16 November
2011.
The decision followed an exhibition outlining the proposals that
was held in St John's Shopping Centre, Perth, from Monday 27th June
- Sunday 3rd July 2011, when people were able to see details
of the design for the new public space.
Once the proposals were approved by the Council,
they were submitted to the Scottish Government for a final
decision, given the Council's interest in the planning application.
Historic Scotland has refused the application.
