Historic mansion to be put up for sale following consultation

A historic mansion house owned by Falkirk Council is likely to be put up for sale following a public consultation.

The final decision will be made by members of Falkirk Council’s executive on Tuesday when they are asked to agree that Kilns House be advertised and sold on the open market, with the profit being added to Falkirk Common Good Fund.

Built in 1852, Kilns House – which sits between the now empty municipal buildings and Dollar Park – has lain vacant since 2005 and is now in a poor state of repair.

In February, the council announced that the the B-listed, red sandstone villa was in need of significant refurbishment and no longer fit for purpose or of use to the council.

As the house was purchased by the former Burgh of Falkirk, the house and the land around it are held on the Common Good Fund account. That meant a consultation to decide its future was legally necessary and this ran from February 17 until April 14 this year.

The results of the consultation are now in a report that will go to members of the executive on Tuesday. While it was publicised through the local press, on social media, through community councils and various notices, just 44 representations were received.

Of those, 27 agreed that the house should be sold while 17 disagreed – which means 63 per cent were in favour of the proposal.

The comments are extremely varied, with some in favour of seeing it become a boutique hotel or flats while others would like to see it retained for community use.

The Society of John de Graeme has also expressed an interest in turning the house into a heritage centre.

Many of those commenting are happy to see the house being restored, although some said it was disgraceful that it had been allowed to get into such a state.

Many were also keen to retain the small area of woodland that links Dollar Park and Falkirk town centre.

They have been told that the house and land are in a conservation area and a substantial part of the land will remain in public ownership which the council says will give “substantial protection to the trees in the grounds”.