We ask Perth and Kinross Council to fulfill its promise to complete repairs at Coupar Angus Town Hall and reopen it this month (December 2022). 

Coupar Angus Town Hall, also known as Victoria Hall, was built by public subscription in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria's Jubilee. David McFarlane the industrialist, who was Provost of the Burgh from 1875 to 1895, is reputed to have been the most generous contributor (quote from Margaret Laing's book on the history of Coupar Angus). 

The Hall has played a central role in the historic, cultural and civic life of the town. It was home to the Town Council and later the Community Council and was regularly used for ceilidhs, tea dances, plays, public meetings, bingo teas, indoor curling, badminton and other sports, exercise classes, karate classes, exhibitions, indoor markets and many other things. It has also hosted the town library since 1987. 

After the Town Council was abolished in 1975, Victoria Hall became the property - and responsibility - of Perth and Kinross Council. Since then, the building has been subject to decades of neglect. For example the windows at the sides and back of the building have not been painted for 30 or 40 years, resulting in severe rot. A formal complaint to Perth and Kinross Council was upheld (click here). 

Perth and Kinross Council closed the Hall in March 2020 due to the Covid lockdown. At the end of 2021 it committed £200,000 to essential maintenance, and promised to reopen the building in December 2022 (see letter from Perth and Kinross Council to John Swinney). However, on 8 December 2022, the Council stated that having spent £116,000, mostly on a new heating system, there was no budget left to complete the repairs (they quote a figure of £65,000 to repair the windows, although they do not say how they arrived at this amount) - see letter dated 8 December 2022. 

They went on to say "The future of the Town Hall is something PKC will be considering carefully as part of our wider Property Assets review and our need to consolidate our estate and reduce costs given the pressures we face." 

Local SNP Councillor Jack Welch added:

"Part of this review will assess cost of repairs and upgrade work needed, running costs, requirement to decarbonise and suitability as a building for continued Community use. Perth & Kinross Council is facing huge pressure to cut costs and ensure we deliver our statutory and priority services hence why this review is taking place."

The Council may indeed be facing huge pressure to cut costs, but Coupar Angus is facing huge pressure to maintain community spirit, and losing a building that has such an important place in the town's historical, cultural, social and civic life will be a serious blow to local morale.  

Besides, if the Council set aside £200,000 for repairs and only spent £116,000, it raises the question of what happened to the remaining £84,000. 

A consultation by Perth and Kinross in December 2019 found that "The majority of residents strongly agree (93%) agree that Coupar Angus needs a high-quality Town Hall." 

We the undersigned call on Thomas Glen (Chief Executive Officer of Perth & Kinross Council) and SNP Council leader Grant Laing to give their backing to repairing and reopening Coupar Angus Town Hall, and running it properly with a new caretaker to replace the wonderful Florence Smeaton.