Work seems to have stalled at the site of the former Strathearn Hotel in Crieff’s King Street.
The long-awaited demolition work on the notorious building got off to a good start in September last year.
And despite a hiccup in October, when an emergency road closure had to be enforced after owners of neighbouring properties reported health and safety concerns surrounding construction of the scaffolding, the building eventually came down.
However, scaffolding still remains in place on the adjacent property, and the site is a mess.
The Strathearn ward’s three councillors have asked Perth and Kinross Council for an update.
And Conservative elected member Noah Khogali queried a report which suggested work at the site was at an end during a meeting of the environment, infrastructure and economic development committee on Wednesday last week.
Members were reviewing the Annual Performance Report 2021/22 for Communities, which details progress against targets and sets out priority areas for the coming year.
The draft report included an update on completing delivery of the £1.9 million Town Centres Fund (TCF) projects, which the Strathearn Hotel was a part of.
The report stated in regard to the Strathearn Hotel that demolition was complete and the site was cleared.
Although privately-owned Perth and Kinross Council allocated £265,000 from the Scottish Government’s TCF to ensure that the long-standing eyesore, which was the subject of more than one Dangerous Buildings notice, came down.
The planning application to demolish the building came hand in hand with another application to temporarily landscape the site with a condition that this should be done “within three weeks of the completion of demolition of the buildings on the site, and thereafter maintained to the satisfaction of the council as planning authority.”
It is believed that most of the money from the TCF has been paid out for the demolition works.
Cllr Khogali said there had been issues contacting the owner and it had been harder than it should be to get the work completed.
He told the Strathearn Herald he had since received an update on the situation from council officials.
He said: “The council is aware of the work being incomplete and have refused to pay out any more money to the site owner until relations are re-established.
“This is obviously a point of huge frustration for me as well as the constituents, business owners and residents who have contacted me.
“I hope we can get this resolved as soon as possible, and I will continue to press the council to do as much as they can to ensure that the work is completed.”
