Monks vow to fight council ruling on ‘green-belt’ land sale

Published on Thursday 9 February 2012 00:00

MONKs have warned their monastery faces closure if a local authority refuses to let them sell a plot of land to help pay for vital modernisation work.

The Redemptorist Fathers of St Mary’s Monastery at Kinnoull, Perth, have said the 141-year-old building’s interior is in desperate need of refurbishment, and have issued an urgent appeal for support to build 19 homes on farm land adjacent to it.

In a public letter, Fr Ronald McAinsh, the order’s provincial superior, said: “[The] monastery is cold, lacks full facilities for toilets and showers and is in serious need of upgrading…

“It is for these reasons that we are seeking an enabling development, which means that every penny of the money raised by the proposed sale of the land will be used to bring the monastery up to a reasonable standard for this age.”

It is estimated that around £1 million is needed to carry out the work.

Plans for the development of 19 properties on the land were previously voted down by one vote, but Fr McAinsh said a second attempt to gain permission would be made.

He added: “We are proceeding with a request for planning permission in order that we may sell the field and so thereby ensure the future of the monastery.”

Letters of support for the project have to reach Perth and Kinross council by Friday.

Fr McAinsh said the monastery opposed plans for the field to be classed as part of Perth’s green belt, on the grounds that it was already bounded by a cottage, properties built back in the 1970s and the monastery itself.

He went on to say that the redevelopment would be a small price to pay for the monastery’s survival.

The roof of the monastery has already undergone significant repair five years ago, which drained the order’s fund raising resources, forcing the monks to resort to the sale of the land.

Established in Italy during the 18th century, the Redemptorist Order came to Scotland in the 1860s setting up at, preaching “plentiful redemption” to those who were “the poorest and most abandoned in society”.

For a century, the monastery was a community and training house for priests and brothers, acting as a base for the order to preach in various parts of Scotland.

In the 1950s the building’s function began to change, opening itself to the wider of community and adopting different uses, such as acting as a retreat centre for visitors.

There are still six monks and two nuns living at the property.

A spokesman for Perth and Kinross Council said that it could not comment on pending planning applications.

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quertycat

Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 04:22 PM

Oh, I'm sure their god will help them out if they pray enough. As a matter of interest, do monasteries and religious thingwies in general pay tax?

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Tartancult

Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 06:12 AM

"MONKs have warned their monastery faces closure if a local authority refuses to let them sell a plot of land to help pay for vital modernisation work"--------------------I accept what they say. When will the monastery close?

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