Vandal-hit B&Q store to be demolished for shopping complex

A vandal-hit B&Q store on the edge of Perth city centre, is being torn down to make way for a new £10 million shopping complex. Bulldozers have already begin demolishing the old B&Q branch at St Catherine’s Retail Park, which has been empty for several years and was most recently used as a temporary base for the charity Computers 4 Africa.

Earlier this year, vandals twice broke into the building and set fire to rubbish inside, then in July a gang tried to break into the store again and last week some graffiti proclaiming “wake up, earth is flat” was spotted scrawled on the outside. Owners were forced to step up security to prevent more attacks.

The announcement comes only weeks after the owner of the site Episo Boxes won planning consent to transform the building into five new retail stores and a restaurant, a move which is expected to attract big name brands to the city and generate around 100 jobs. This is the first phase of a wider scheme to spruce up the rest of the ageing retail park and hopefully lure shoppers from outside the city.

In a report backing the redevelopment, planning officer John Williamson said the new plan would “create new job opportunities, which will will be of benefit to the local economy.”

In a statement to planners, a Episo spokesman said: “The purpose of the regeneration of St Catherine’s Retail Park North is to inject new life into a dated 1980s first-generation retail park, generate new interest and ultimately encourage new tenants.

“This improvement will reinforce Perth city centre as a retail destination.”

Source: Insight DIY Team

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