Funds to repair Fife town hall secured

Councillors on the North East Area Committee approved a contribution of £210,000 from the St Andrews Common Good Fund to help cover the bill.

Cracks appeared in the ceiling of the main hall in the summer of 2019, and it was later discovered that there is dry and wet rot within the original timber lintols over the main hall windows. All the windows in the hall are affected.

Almost £600,000 worth of work is required to repair the building.

St Andrews Community Council had been consulted about the works and, while of the view that it was not unreasonable for the common good fund to make a considerable contribution towards the repairs, they had wished for the contribution to be limited to £150,000.

St Andrews councillor Brian Thomson welcomed the contribution of funding.

He said: "The requirement for extensive structural repairs to the Town Hall only became apparent when cracks in the ceiling of the main first floor hall were observed and subsequent invasive investigations carried out.

"Such issues are common in old buildings, and not a result of a lack of maintenance and, now that they have been identified, it's essential that the works are carried out and the building made available for public use again as soon as possible.

“Having made the case for £250,000 being included for the works in the recently approved Labour/SNP joint administration's Fife Council Capital Investment Plan, I'm pleased that a further £130,000 is to be provided by Fife Council Property Services, and that the Committee backed a contribution of up to £210,000 from the St Andrews Common Good Fund.

“The Town Hall is a Common Good building, so it's entirely appropriate that the Common Good fund is utilised to bridge a funding gap.”

He added: "Whilst I appreciate that it will reduce the funding available to apply for by any proposers of other projects or initiatives that could potentially benefit the common good of the town, the alternative would be further indefinite delay to the works whilst Fife Council tried to secure funding from other sources."