Overgrown, uncared for and forgotten? The former Rainbow Centre in Kilcreggan has been standing empty for five years.
Five years ago the local volunteers who had been operating it decided they could not continue, so the right thing to do was hand it back to its owners, Argyll and Bute Council.
Has the council done the right thing since then?
Little time was wasted in putting the 150 year-old former school on the market for £95,000 and later in 2012 a council spokesperson said negotiations with a buyer for the C-listed building were ‘continuing’.
In October 2015 the council said an offer had been received ‘and it is hoped that settlement will be reached in the very near future’.
And 12 months later the council made almost identical comments, while a request to see the interior of the property was refused.
This week the building has still not been sold, but a council spokesperson said it remained under offer: “We have been working to address conveyancing issues and hope to settle soon.”
So how many other buildings owned by the council might be in a similar situation?
Trying to answer that question has taken nine months so far – and the picture is probably still far from complete.
But across the area there are nearly 40 properties which are doing nothing and could raise more than £3m if the council ever sells them.
In the meantime, any maintenance on them is draining the public purse – as an indication, Castle Toward on the Cowal Peninsula was finally sold last year, but until then it was costing £600 a day in maintenance and security.
New legislation from the Scottish Government means the public should get a chance to buy publicly-owned land – but the chances of even finding the property seem slim in some cases.
With a fresh round of spending cuts expected at the end of this year, the council urgently needs to do the right thing and focus on marketing the buildings it needs to sell, as well as making sure that our heritage is maintained.
Do you know of any empty or disused buildings which should be included in our list? If so, email contact@thelochsidepress.com, or use Twitter @LochsidePress or www.facebook.com/thelochsidepress
See also these linked stories:
The nine-month Freedom of Information battle
Heritage rotting away – the council’s historic buildings at risk
Yours for £1 – or less: Mapping the empty property owned by our council
Leave a Reply