Work is to be carried out on Stirling’s A-listed sheriff court building in a bid to ramp up the number of cases being heard.
The Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service submitted a listed building consent application to Stirling Council planners for temporary works on the landmark Barnton Street/Viewfield Place building to allow court room one to comply with Covid 19 Government guidelines. This has now been conditionally approved.
SCTS said there was a “pressing requirement” at the courthouse to increase the existing capacity of court rooms due to “the significant pressures that the service is currently under” and that the situation had been made more challenging by the pandemic.
The works include erection of a temporary screen within the public bench screening and the temporary removal of a bench seat to improve accessibility.
In their decision, the planners said: “The proposal is to help facilitate social distancing in the building as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The proposals are minimal and temporary in nature, and are not considered to have a detrimental impact on the historic environment of the building. The details of when the bench and screening are to be removed and replaced have not been provided, given the uncertainty of when restrictions are to ease fully.
A condition, however, to confirm the timescale and date of their removal and reinstatement shall be actioned.
“In addition to this, storage details of the bench will be conditioned to ensure that it is stored in an acceptable location.”
In documents submitted with the application, agents for SCTS had said: “Due to the urgent need for existing court room space, as many courts as possible are being put back into full face-to-face service.”
