Engineering consultants have told car dealers Arnold Clark that a landlocked B-listed building on their Stirling site needs to be immediately demolished. In February the car dealership sought new consents to make Kerse Mill structurally safe. However, now consultants who have conducted ongoing checks on the building on their behalf say these measures and others won’t be enough to mitigate the risks. The three-storey derelict former corn mill and grain store off Kerse Road, which dates back to 1904, is surrounded by garages and workshops and has no direct access from a public road. In 2019, Arnold Clark Automobiles Ltd withdrew a bid to demolish the historic structure, which is one of the few remaining industrial buildings in Stirling dating from the early 20th century. It was said to have become increasingly rundown and unsafe over the previous three decades to the point it was placed on the 'Buildings At Risk Register'. Arnold Clark owns the adjacent land and the building itself, which has been mostly unused since it was bought by the company in 1991. Efforts to sell it were unsuccessful. The building is believed to have already been surrounded by development when the company bought the site. Information sent recently to Arnold Clark Ltd by engineering consultants Fairhurst, however, and forwarded to Stirling Council planners, stated: “We refer to our periodic inspections of the above property over several years. “Over this period we acknowledge several meaningful interventions by Arnold Clark that have been undertaken to maintain the safety and broader integrity of the building. “These interventions included weathering protection across the roof and the construction of a substantial façade retention structure, all coupled with regular inspections and assessments. “More recently we have undertaken inspections using a drone to enable close inspection of accessible structural elements. “The situation became that, notwithstanding these significant interventions, the decline in condition of the structure accelerated, and will continue to do so, increasing the risk of structural failure along with the associated health and safety issues that that decline and potential failure brings.” The document added that emergency actions had been taken recently with the council’s approval including removing the entire roof structure. But it continued: “However, whilst there is a façade retention system installed to address the short to medium term stability of the main walls, this is not a long-term solution for the building. The façade, party wall and internal floors will continue to deteriorate, as will the effectiveness of the façade and party wall retention systems. The existing structure will deteriorate in localised areas, such as ongoing timber rotting, masonry damage due to weathering, etc and, as a whole, will compromise the building putting at risk the overall stability. Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area. “The condition is such that the building could not be safely repaired/refurbished and it remains our recommendation that the overall health and safety risk to the use of the surrounding areas imposed by this building is removed by it being demolished. “With weather events and storms becoming more intense, more regular and occurring throughout the year we recommend that this action is taken immediately.” In February Arnold Clark Ltd applied for its latest listed building consent for a list of works including removal of the roof structural timbers, reducing the height of both gable walls and remedial action works, with documents submitted with the application stating: “The building in its current state is considered to be dangerous to the public. “A marketing exercise has been carried out recently demonstrates that the there is no clear future viable use for the building. It is the intention of the building owners to follow the works subject to thus LBC for immediate/urgent works with further works necessary to protect and stabilise the structure and building fabric, leaving it vacant and in a mothballed state.” The building was built in the early 20th Century as a grain store for Robert Walls and Sons at the Valleyfield Mills sidings on the east side of the Caledonian Railway. The company was a producer of oatmeal for human consumption as well as for its use in the production of animal feeds. Grain processing for the production of cattle and other animal feeds was carried out at the store, as was milling. It is thought likely that the building fell out of use in the mid-20th Century, with images taken in 1974 showing the building out of use, with windows already bricked up. The building is of significance as a surviving building from the early 20th Century industrial expansion of Stirling and was designated a listed building in 1982 at a Category C level of importance before being upgraded to Category B in 2004. Council planners are expected to make a recommendation on the latest listed building application in due course.