A Moray SNP Councillor has labelled a £1.25million refurbishment for Elgin Town Hall as a waste of funds on a “bad asset”.
Elgin City North councillor Patsy Gowans spoke out at a meeting of the policy and resources committee on Tuesday on hearing proposals for refurbishment of the listed building.
The 1960’s building requires upgrading to its heating and lighting with new windows, floor covering and insulation set to be installed.
However, Councillor Gowans insisted that the building should only receive essential repairs and insisted that it had “had its day” and should be replaced entirely.
She said: “If it is a listed building then there are ways to get around that, we could perhaps keeps the façade – but preferably we need a new building.
“The inside has to go; future generations are entitled to have a civic space that is going to be suitable for modern life.
“It is the people of Moray that have to find the money to keep the old buildings going – we can’t have a capital asset that is costing us a fortune.”
The comments came as Councillors heard that £6million was required to be spent on property repairs over the next five years.