Cash-strapped Highland Council accused of 'asset stripping' over potential sale of public buildings in Sutherland including its area headquarters at Drummuie
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Highland Council’s flagship area headquarters in Sutherland could be put up for sale as the cash-strapped authority battles to save costs.
The handsome B-listed building at Drummuie on the outskirts of Golspie is among a number of Highland Council buildings in Sutherland and elsewhere in the region currently under review.
However, local councillors are resisting moves to sell with Cllr Jim McGillivray, East Sutherland and Edderton, slamming it as “asset stripping of Sutherland to pay for new schools and facilities in favoured areas”.
He said the sale of Drummuie, formerly Sutherland Technical School and opened as Highland Council offices in 2008 following renovation, would be a “horrendous loss”.
Discussions were set to take place on Thursday between local members and officials.
The full scale of the “asset rationalisation” exercise is laid bare in documents revealed to the Northern Times.
Under the microscope in Sutherland is the dilapidated Janitor’s House at Dornoch, which has been empty for a number of years and is costing the authority in council tax and maintenance costs.
A building warrant has already been obtained for the demolition of the home and it is anticipated the site could fetch in excess of £100,000 if planning consent was obtained for a four-bedroom house.
Other buildings include Altnaharra Primary School, which closed for good in 2019; Golspie Service Point; Brora Library and Cultural Centre; Dornoch Library and Chambers; Bettyhill Service Point; and Bonar Bridge Service Point and Library.
Cllr McGillivray said Highland Council had for years now gone into debt to build new primary schools for Inverness and secondary schools for Ross-shire.
“The revenue cost to service this debt currently stands at around £80 million per annum out of an annual budget of just over £500,000,000,” he said.
“With increased interest charges and public sector pay awards, not least the present demands of the teaching profession, the council’s finances are severely challenged, and it needs to cut costs and pull in money wherever we can.
“That is why we are now facing asset-stripping of council properties throughout the Highlands, to cut running costs and cash in on property values.
“I recognise the need for economy, but hold the point of view that any asset strip should take place in those areas which have received most investment from the council in recent years - and that is not Sutherland.”
Cllr McGillivray added that the Janitor’s House sat on land gifted by the Murray family of Balloan to build the 1913 school and the land was an “intrinsic” part of the school campus.
“Until recently the Janny’s Hoose was a functioning family dwelling,” he said. “The council put in a squad to do an asbestos survey and they ripped off skirting and facing boards and took off a road panel and left the building open to the elements - complete vandalism in fact - and that has contributed to its current ruinous state.
“The site was identified for parking in the council’s own plans for the Dornoch Sports Centre, and, if it had been retained in a reasonable state, I had it identified as a possible site for a high-tech Newton Room, of which there are none between Dingwall and Thurso.”
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “The Highland Council is currently reviewing the use of all office accommodation as well as vacant buildings. Future use and potential disposal will be subject to consultation with members and Highland Council approval.”
