A former president of Falkirk Arts Community has blasted what he calls a "sham session" on the closure of Falkirk City Corridor.
John Paterson, who can also be president of Falkirk Tryst Orchestra, is indignant that the session is following the council's controversial choice to shut FTH for good - a call he calls "an act of vandalism".
The one-question session was launched final week, asking folks in the event that they agree that Falkirk Council ought to speed up the demolition of Falkirk City Corridor alongside the rest of the Municipal Buildings.
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The 2 buildings are a part of the identical complicated and share utilities together with water and energy - making their separation complicated and costly.
Falkirk Council's director of place, Malcolm Bennie, says the council can't justify spending £6 million to separate the 2 components of the constructing - a process that might require closure of the city corridor for a yr.
Final month, SNP and Conservative councillors agreed that holding the city corridor open at such a price would stall progress on constructing a brand new venue and voted to shut it on February 6.
The council says it intends to make use of cash from the sale of the land to assist construct a brand new, greener theatre and city corridor instead.
However the truth that the saga has reached such a disaster level with no choice but taken on the place the brand new venue can be or what it's going to appear like sparked anger from the numerous arts teams who had been promised that the previous constructing would stay in place till a alternative was discovered.
Mr Paterson believes the council "might have acted illegally in taking the choices it has with out following due course of".
And he has sturdy phrases for the councillors who've, over a few years, failed to succeed in settlement a couple of alternative for the 50-year previous buildings.
He mentioned: "In doing so, they've handled the folks of Falkirk very badly. They now seem like attempting to cowl up their apparently unlawful actions by, belatedly, having a sham session when it's already too late.
"They've identified for a few years that the constructing containing the City Corridor and the Falkirk Council HQ was nearing the top of its helpful life.
"They've had a number of alternatives to make sure that an acceptable alternative facility was in place earlier than there was a necessity to shut the present constructing, however on every event, the elected members of Falkirk Council have chosen to not proceed with plans to supply a brand new facility.
"Falkirk Council has taken a deliberate and calculated choice to place us on this terrible place.
"A lot of Falkirk residents, who're very sad in regards to the place that the council has put us in, have been voicing their views on the topic and can proceed to take action so as to guarantee that the council don’t get away with this act of vandalism and usually are not allowed to quietly go forward with the demolition of the City Corridor within the hope that the folks of Falkirk gained’t discover.
"Falkirk wants a City Corridor and it wants it now. Some imprecise plan to supply a alternative in 5 or ten years time is just not adequate and the individuals who put us on this place have to be held to account.
"We could have a era of youngsters rising up in Falkirk with nowhere to carry out within the annual shows of the numerous dancing faculties within the space and nowhere for the youth theatre teams to carry out.
"Many grownup teams too will discover themselves with no appropriate efficiency venue, affecting lots of of group members and hundreds of people that sit up for attending their performances.
"I've grave considerations in regards to the detrimental impact this can have on the cultural wellbeing of the city of Falkirk and doubt whether or not the city would ever get better whether it is disadvantaged of this facility for a interval of a number of years."
In December final yr, Falkirk councillors took the choice to demolish the buildings on a phased foundation and promote the positioning. By legislation, they have been required to seek the advice of the general public and most of these submitting responses agreed that this could occur.
The brand new session is asking whether or not folks consider that course of must be accelerated to incorporate the city corridor, permitting demolition to start out as quickly as doable.
A council spokesperson mentioned: "A earlier Frequent Good session resulted in a call that the positioning may very well be bought and a phased demolition course of undertaken. The present statutory session considers the matter of accelerating the phasing of the demolition.”