A dangerous building notice has been served on the former Territorial Army (TA) building in Paisley as councillors call for tough action on the owners.
The future of the B-listed structure in High Street hangs in the balance after the majority of the façade retention scheme, made up of scaffolding, was removed.
JR Construction, a division of the Paisley-based JR Group, has been accused of ignoring formal notices to reinstate the support system. It is understood the council has considered reporting the matter to the criminal courts.
Councillor Mags MacLaren, an SNP representative for Paisley Northwest, said: “This is a disgraceful act of civic vandalism by the JR Group. They removed the scaffolding supporting the building knowing that it could cause more damage and may result in its demolition.
“It’s bad enough when companies outside of Paisley and Renfrewshire make a mockery of our historic sites but for a company based in Paisley to do so is sickening.”
Elected members met to make a decision on JR Construction’s application for listed building consent to knock down the façade at the planning and climate change policy board on Tuesday, December 3.
However, they were told they couldn’t discuss the matter after it had been withdrawn by the developer the previous afternoon. It came after a report by the chief planning officer at the time said there was “no clear justification” to back demolition.
The paper also explained much of the retention scheme at the site had been removed with only the bottom third or so remaining in place. As such, a temporary stop notice was issued on October 14. This was followed by a listed building enforcement notice and stop notice on November 11.
Councillor Eddie Devine, who represents Paisley Southeast, said: “It seems like the council’s hands are tied on this issue – we simply don’t have the power to force developers to stick to planning conditions.
“This is destroying Paisley’s heritage and the JR Group should be ashamed of themselves, putting petty profit ahead of our town’s heritage.
“They should be forced to make the remains of the building safe and be fined heavily for inflicting damage on the building by removing the scaffolding.”
The demolition proposal had been met with outrage in the community and a petition, launched by retired conservation officer Duncan Macintosh in opposition, gathered over 1,000 signatures.
The campaigners eager to preserve a future for the building and the council are keen to see the scaffolding reinstated to safeguard the iconic property.
Councillor Will Mylet, who represents Paisley East and Central, said: “I have a concern that, on the one hand, the building is in imminent danger and could be demolished yet the officers refuse to create a safe exclusion zone around the building.
“I will be contacting the Scottish Government minister for planning to stress how important it is for heritage sites – like the TA building – are protected from unscrupulous developers who are destroying our history.”
It is understood the local authority believes the boundary of the site is sufficient at present, but officers will monitor the building in the coming weeks and consider the prospect of extending an exclusion zone if necessary.
A council spokesperson said: “In line with the Building (Scotland) Act 2003, we have been required to serve a dangerous building notice on the former TA Building in Paisley to ensure we maintain public safety.
“The owners of the private building removed the façade support system in early October and have ignored four formal notices to reinstate it.
“This has left the council with no choice but to serve the notice as the building is considered dangerous under Sections 29 and 30 of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003.
“The façade support system must now be reinstated or the façade demolished within 21 days – and the council’s desire is for the reinstatement to take place.
“If the option to demolish was not provided within the notice and the façade support system was not reinstated, the council would then be liable to carry out the works at a significant cost for a building which is in private ownership.”
The TA building was built in the late 19th century to the design of famous Paisley architect Thomas Graham Abercrombie. Standing between Coats Memorial Church and Paisley Museum, the landmark was damaged by a fire in March 2020.
JR Construction was given the green light to build accommodation for up to 338 students at the site in October of that year.
In a letter submitted with the application for listed building consent in October this year, agent Iceni Projects said its client had advised demolition was “urgently necessary” for health and safety reasons. JR Construction was contacted for comment.
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