Disappointment has been expressed by East Renfrewshire councillors after a charity pulled out of plans to use the empty A-listed Capelrig House.

The Children 1st charity had been in talks with East Renfrewshire Council over taking on the Newton Mearns property, which has been vacant for over 10 years, to provide a centre for excellence for helping children recover from traumatic experiences.

Councillors had agreed to lease Capelrig House to the charity for a minimal rent in 2021, but progress on the project was delayed by Covid-19 and rising costs.

Now, council officials have reported the charity has informed them it is “no longer able to commit to that proposal” and alternative options for the building are being considered. These include a café or learning spaces for Eastwood High School.

Mary Glasgow, the charity’s chief executive, said Capelrig House “could not be developed in a timely or financially viable way”.

Instead, an alternative facility has been opened to “urgently” support children who have been victims of abuse and violence.

East Renfrewshire Council has spent £1.2m on work to make the building, near Eastwood High School, wind and watertight. Surveys had shown the building was “at risk of serious deterioration”, officials reported. 

At a meeting last week, Cllr Caroline Bamforth, SNP, said she was “very disappointed” in the charity.

She said their plans had been for “such an innovative and fantastic facility”.

She added: “I’m really disappointed in the situation we are in now.”

The council’s chief executive Steven Quinn said he believed the charity had thought “there would be funding in place to support certain things”. 

“They were no longer, I believe, able to get that funding and therefore they had to come to a conclusion that they could no longer fulfil that commitment,” he added.

Cllr Annette Ireland, independent, said work had been estimated at £2.3m to refurbish the building, with Children 1st expected to pay £1.1m. She asked: “Is the council putting up that money? What is now happening?

“It’s just a lot of money that the council is having to spend on this building. We don’t have a use for it yet.”

Mr Quinn said for the “building to become fully functional, internal works will be required”. That is estimated to cost £1.1m. He added: “They withdrew from the project and therefore the internal work has not been done.”

The chief executive said officials were looking for “a steer” from councillors on “reasonable” future uses for the building.

Options provided in a report included “flexible learning spaces” for use by Eastwood High School to “alleviate potential capacity pressures” and a social enterprise cafe or council-run cafe, which could help young people into employment and develop catering skills.

Meeting spaces for council workers, community organisations and third sector groups are also being considered as well as storage space for volunteer groups.

The report added: “As a result of Children 1st’s withdrawal from using Capelrig House, the entirety of the building’s maintenance and running costs will fall to East Renfrewshire Council.”

In August last year, Children 1st opened Scotland’s first Bairns Hoose, a single-location alternative to courts, social work offices and police stations in the west of Scotland to support children who have experienced abuse and violence.

It was based on the ‘Barnahus’ model — an internationally recognised approach, first developed in Iceland. The facility is supported by partners in North Strathclyde, which covers four councils: East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde and Renfrewshire.

At that time, it was said that work was ongoing to turn Capelrig House into a centre for excellence for Bairns Hoose in Scotland.

The charity’s chief executive said: “Children who have been victims of abuse and violence urgently need justice, health, protection and recovery support from the moment they disclose they have been harmed.

“As the plans to develop a Bairns Hoose in North Strathclyde progressed, it became clear that Capelrig House could not be developed in a timely or financially viable way.

“Instead, children and families in East Renfrewshire have been the first in Scotland to benefit from the support of a Bairns Hoose since we opened a local alternative to Capelrig a year ago, with a range of partners, including the council.”