Committee
Public Petitions Committee, 26 Nov 2003
26 Nov 2003 · S2 · Public Petitions Committee
Item of business
New Petitions
Listed Buildings (PE662 and PE678)
I broadly share that view, but I have only just had the chance to read through the papers from Mr Wilson that were on our desks when we came in this morning. I do not quite understand how Historic Scotland gets to the point that it reaches in the final paragraph of its letter of 17 November to Mr Wilson, because I understood that Stirling Council was on the point of disposing of the building. I do not know whether disposing of the hall means selling or demolishing it or something else. In the final paragraph, the director of Historic Scotland, Graeme Munro, says:"I hope you can be persuaded to view recent events positively and constructively as steps towards promoting the retention and re-use of significant elements of the Hall."That seems to be a more positive position than the one that I understood we were in when I read the papers prior to the meeting. The case might not be as black and white as Mr Wilson has suggested.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Lab
I suggest that we take the next petitions together, as they are both from Mr David Wilson and relate to the same issue. PE662 is about disputes that relate t...
Linda Fabiani:
SNP
I think that you are absolutely right. We spent a lot of time on previous petitions by the same petitioner, which are closely related to the same issue. I do...
The Convener:
Lab
Do members agree? We should make it clear why we take that view. It is not that we disagree in any way with what Mr Wilson says about the building in questio...
Mike Watson (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab):
Lab
I broadly share that view, but I have only just had the chance to read through the papers from Mr Wilson that were on our desks when we came in this morning....
The Convener:
Lab
The information that I have received is that one of the conditions is that part of the building be retained by any developer. In other words, some aspects of...
Mike Watson:
Lab
We understand that that is not enough for Mr Wilson, who wants the building to be preserved in its current state.
The Convener:
Lab
That seems to be the case. I think that he wants it to be retained entirely for community use, but that is not a decision on which we can sit in judgment.
Mike Watson:
Lab
No, we cannot do that.
The Convener:
Lab
Do members agree that we should write back to the petitioner to advise him of our inability to sit in judgment on the decision in question and to tell him th...
Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab):
Lab
I support that. The petitioner is calling for a reporter to be introduced for cases that go to arbitration. From my experience of reporters, I would prefer t...
The Convener:
Lab
Is everyone happy with that?Members indicated agreement.