Plans to demolish Perth City Hall unveiled

Plans to demolish Perth's historic city hall and create a civic square in its place have been unveiled.

The local authority said that if given the go-ahead the £3m plan would deliver "significant benefits and economic growth" to the city.

A public consultation, which attracted 2,738 responses, found 43% of the public and 52% of business in favour.

The fate of the category B-listed building will be discussed by Perth and Kinross Council next week.

The building's listed status means any decision to demolish it would have to be discussed with Historic Scotland and eventually referred to Scottish ministers for approval.

The authority said that demolishing the hall, built in 1908, would also improve the setting of St John's Kirk in the city, attracting more people to Perth.

The plan comes four years after developer Wharfside Regeneration secured planning permission to turn the building into a shopping centre.

However, the plan failed to reach fruition due to a lack of viable tenants.

Councillor George Hayton said: "Potential options for the re-use or conversion of the city hall do not have much public support and do not appear to be economically viable in the current financial climate, as we saw with the failure of the Wharfside project.

"Re-use options would also require significant public subsidy, which was not supported by the majority of respondents and are unlikely to be affordable."