Proposed sale of Kinross Town Hall & Library

Page 1 - Proposed Sale of Town Hall

Submission by Kinross CC

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On 3 August 2005 there was a hearing at Perth Sheriff Court to consider a Petition submitted by Perth & Kinross Council for “Authority to Alienate Subjects Forming Part of the Common Good Known as and Forming Kinross Town Hall and the Kinross Carnegie Free Library”. Kinross Community Council lodged a number of documents in objection to P&KC’s Petition. In addition, the Sheriff received 24 letters on the subject. The Sheriff accepted Kinross Community Council into the legal process and deferred the matter until 28 September to allow the Community Council time to obtain the services of a solicitor, and for further documentation to be supplied to the CC.

On 28 September and on 26 October the Sheriff agreed to four-week deferrals on the Town Hall/Library matter. These had been requested by the solicitor acting for Kinross Community Council and the solicitor acting for Perth & Kinross Council. On 23 November the two solicitors advised the Court that they intended to obtain, jointly, the opinion of Senior Counsel on the complex legal arguments involved in this case. Unfortunately that opinion was not obtained by the next hearing on 11 January 2o06. On that date, the Sheriff agreed to a “sist” or suspension while the opinion of Senior Counsel is obtained.

Update - June 2006: For various reasons, such as a change of personnel at P&KC legal department, it took a very long time for P&KC to provide the necessary written confirmation that they were happy with the documentation to be sent to the QC and it was only in May that confirmation was eventually obtained. A QC has now been formally instructed.

Included in P&KC’s petition to the Sheriff is the proposal that the buildings be sold for £185,000. P&KC requests permission to retain £118,489.59 of that sum, with the remaining £66,514.41 to be paid into the Kinross Common Good Fund. (The Kinross Common Good Fund is administered by P&KC).

KCC believes that ownership of the Town Hall and Library buildings should continue to lie with the local authority, and that P&KC should maintain these buildings on behalf of the people of Kinross. However, if the Sheriff decides that P&KC may go ahead and sell the buildings, a Community Right to Buy organisation could try to purchase them, thus keeping the buildings in community ownership. Please click HERE for more information.

Update - September 2006: A little progress has been made with the legal case over Kinross Town Hall and Library. In May, P&KC’s solicitor and the solicitor representing Kinross CC jointly submitted a remit to a QC, seeking his opinion on certain points of law concerning the Town Hall and Library. This Opinion has now been obtained and is currently being studied by the solicitors.

Click here for a copy of the Perth & Kinross Council Legal Petition (NB large file 4.8mb)

In order to fight the petition from P&KC, the following documents were produced and entered into evidence (click on the reference for a copy – NB size of document is at the end in brackets).

1. Submission from Kinross Community Council
2. Answers to the petition by Perth & Kinross Council for Authority to Alienate Subjects forming Part of the Common Good known as and forming Kinross Town Hall and the Kinross Carnegie Free Library (58kb)
3. Location map (813kb)
4. Layout Plan Ground Floor (508kb)
5. Layout Plan First Floor (287kb)
6. Typescript of Minute of Agreement between Kinross Town Council, Kinross Parish Council and the Landward Committee dated 18 March 1904 (94kb)
7. Typescript of Dispositions by
   a. Jessie Lawson or Hogg (92kb)
   b. David Brown (96kb)
   c. Helen and Ann Mailer (43kb)
   to the Committee nominated by Kinross Town Council, Kinross Parish Council and the Landward Committee dated 12 April 1904 and 30 May 1904
8. Proposed Replacement Facilities following the loss of Kinross Town Hall, Library and Museum (88kb)
9. Funding Profile - Perth Concert Hall
10. Deed of Trust - Kinross (Marshall) Museum Trust 24-04-1997 (2.04mb – NB large file)
11. Existing High School Space Allocation (57kb)
12. New High School Space Allocation (539kb)
13. Schools Library Association - Guidelines to Designing and Planning a Secondary School Library Resource Centre (3.7mb NB large file)
14. Strategic Policy and Resources Committee Minutes - 27-02-02 (1.01mb – NB large file)
15. Update of Building Survey - Bell Ingram - October 2001 (2.1mb – NB large file)
16. Opinion of Professor of Conveyancing regarding the disposal of the Town Hall - dated 2 February 2004 (5.1mb NB large file)
17. MINUTES of a special Meeting of the Kinross Community Council held at Kinross High School, on Wednesday 20th February 2002 at 7:30 pm (88kb)
18. Opinion of lord Penrose in petition of STIRLING DISTRICT COUNCIL for authority to Dispose of Common Good Land - 19 May 2000 (39kb)