‘More than bonkers’: Lord Steel’s verdict on Holyrood’s £5m security bothy

TWO former presiding officers have criticised plans for Holyrood’s new security pavilion, with Lord Steel going as far to describe them as “more than bonkers”.

The £5 million proposal for the extension, which has been designed to beef up security and guard against suicide bomber attack, has already proved controversial.

Even before Lord Steel and his successor George Reid had voiced their concerns about the pavilion, it had been branded a “bothy”.

Some critics described it as “an unpleasant intrusion” on the parliament building, which was originally designed by the late Catalan architect, Enric Miralles.

Others have questioned whether it is necessary, given that a string of extra security measures have been introduced since the Holyrood building was opened almost eight years ago.

“An architectural representation of unjustified paranoia,” was one critic’s description of the plans.

Lord Steel’s verdict was to the point. In a letter published in today’s Scotsman, Holyrood’s first presiding officer wrote that he thought “the proposed security extension to the Miralles building of the Scottish Parliament is more than bonkers”.

The former SNP MSP George Reid, who followed Lord Steel into the presiding officer’s chair in 2003, was also critical of the pavilion.

Mr Reid said: “I have concerns about the integrity of the design and I am not entirely sure that the cost of £5m is fully justified.”

During his tenure as presiding officer, Mr Reid was given credit for attempting to get a grip on the Scottish Parliament building project, which opened three years late and cost more than ten times its original budget at more than £400m.

The security extension will cover an area of 250 square metres and is likely to be built in front of the public entrance opposite the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

A similar building was erected at Westminster in 2009. Among those critical of the plans has been Benedetta Tagliabue, the widow of Mr Miralles, who criticised officials for allowing other architecture firms to submit plans for an extension to her husband’s building.

Edinburgh-based Lee Boyd Architects has won a £600,000 design competition for the new building.

Once it is built, it will be where all visitors are screened before they are allowed to enter the main building.

It is the latest addition to the parliamentary complex, which has already seen £223,000 spent on a new roundabout, £300,000 on turnstiles and another £1.5m on bollards and benches outside the building after specialist advice from the police and MI5.

However, not all former presiding officers were as critical as Lord Steel and Mr Reid.

Alex Fergusson, the Conservative MSP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale who was presiding officer last term, said: “We discussed and debated this in the last corporate body [the body responsible for ensuring that the parliament is provided with the property, staff and services it requires].

“We agreed to stage one of the process, which was to look at the feasibility and to get designs and quotations and we agreed to leave it to the current corporate body.

“None of these decisions are, in my experience, taken lightly or without a considerable amount of high level advice.

“Other than that I am absolutely not going to comment on the decisions of this [term’s] corporate body.”

A Scottish Parliament spokesman said: “All parliament buildings are adapted through their life to cope with evolving needs and circumstances. The Scottish Parliament building is no exception. ”