Milestone for new Falkirk town hall but questions remain over cost

Callendar Square will be council property early next month but questions remain over funding for the ambitious project.

Falkirk Council has passed another milestone in its long journey to build a new town hall in Falkirk town centre.

Members heard today (Wednesday) that complex negotiations to secure the site for Falkirk's planned civic centre and theatre should be complete by January.

The council leader, Cecil Meiklejohn, welcomed the update report detailing progress, which was presented to a full council meeting. She said: "It is good to see things progressing.

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"I know that people are keen to see progress, particularly those in the town centre who are quite excited by what's happening."

Some councillors expressed doubts about the cost of the project, which could be £6 million more than its current budget.

There will also be annual running costs for the council of £200,000.

But members were told that decisions on costs will need to be taken once the council has taken possession of the ground and the actual specifications of the building and the project are known.

Councillors heard that the current shopping centre is on track to be demolished early in 2024.

Callander Square and the adjoining Antonine Hotel are now almost empty and the management company, Fernglen Ltd, which ran the site, is now in liquidation.

The car park that is currently joined to the shopping centre by a footbridge has been sold to another owner which has further complicated a difficult transaction.

However, while the demolition contract has yet to be signed, agreements to detach the property from the adjoining building at 150-156 High Street and the car park are now well underway.

Councillors agreed that if necessary a Compulsory Purchase Order can be used to move the masts that are currently on the roof of the hotel to the car park.

The hotel is now derelict and has been vandalised and will need to be secured quickly.

The project has £45 million in Falkirk Council's capital budget and the council is also hoping to get another £6 million from the Falkirk Growth Deal to help with costs.

It has submitted an outline business case for this to both Westminster and Holyrood.

The intention was that a contribution to costs would also come from the sale of the Municipal Buildings site, which is now almost completely cleared.

If all goes to plan, the former Municipal Buildings site - which has been valued at between £5 million and £6 million by the district valuer - will have been sold by the end of 2025.

The hope is that the new town hall building will be ready for use by the end of 2027.

But the report to councillors stressed that this is very dependent on a number of factors that could delay the process.

While there was general support for the progress being made, not everyone was happy.

Independent councillor Billy Buchanan once again expressed grave doubts about the project and proposed stopping it altogether, although this was not supported.

Other Independent councillors, Bob Spears, Brian McCabe and Ann Ritchie also had concerns about the costs and lack of detail about the replacement town hall.

However, Director of Place Services, Malcolm Bennie, stressed that the decisions on cost was for a future date when members would be able to take "a fully informed decision".

"At the moment, the risk to the council is negligible because we're purchasing an asset for a million pounds that's worth a million pounds.

"This is not exposing the council to high risk."

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