Plans to demolish former Paisley schoolhouse set out by council

Renfrewshire Council has set out the process for the planned demolition of a former schoolhouse in Paisley declared surplus to operational requirements.

The property in Newton Street, located next to St Mary’s Primary School, suffered significant damage during Storm Éowyn in January of last year.

The local authority had contemplated moving the education asset into the housing team’s ownership but this was ruled out because of the cost of the works needed.

As a result, it was declared surplus at the infrastructure, land and environment policy board in May – paving the way for it to be knocked down.

The council has this month published an outline demolition method statement as part of an application for prior notification and prior approval.

The steps include removing all asbestos containing materials; carrying out a soft strip of the property; and progressively removing the roof structure and demolishing walls and floors down to ground level.

This would be followed by removing ground floor slabs; removing all foundations and infilling all voids; removing existing service runs and capping all drains at the site boundary; and removing all external elements.

The site would then be graded where necessary and topsoil and seed would be imported to cover the building footprint.

A report discussed at the board on Wednesday, May 27, explained how the council had reached the point of proposing demolition.

It said: “Storm damage in January 2025 resulted in the tenant being moved to decant accommodation, so repairs could be undertaken.

“During this period, the council’s housing team considered whether it would be appropriate to bring the property into their ownership.

“It was assessed that the level of works required to upgrade the property would be prohibitive for housing. Other options were therefore considered.

“In the interim, the tenant advised that they did not wish to return to the schoolhouse.

“The small size of the plot and location of the house within wider school grounds and green space does not lend itself to sale on the open market.

“Education would not wish to retain a residential property and they have no operational use for it. Housing services do not wish to acquire it.

“Given the poor state of repair of the property and the lack of operational requirement for it, demolition is proposed.

“The land will be retained as part of the school grounds and used to support outdoor learning.”

Chris Dalrymple, head of facilities and property services, provided further information to elected members at the time.

He said at the meeting: “It was actually Storm Éowyn, when we had the red alert last year, that it was badly damaged.

“We still had a tenant. We looked at different options but it was prohibitive for the cost.

“There was a lot of work needing done, particularly with the roof. It had actually substantially moved, so needed both structural repairs as well as the roof.

“Following discussion, we decided this was the best way to go.”