Stop Stealing Scotland’s History

Join the fight to protect Scotland’s historic buildings from needless demolition

SAVE Britain's Heritage has uncovered a critical flaw in legislation that means Scotland’s architectural treasures are being demolished without proper justification – and we need your urgent support to stop it.

When campaigning against the controversial demolition of category B-listed Ayr Station Hotel in 2023, SAVE uncovered a dangerous legal loophole. While Scotland’s Planning Act 1997 requires the protection of historic buildings, the Building Act 2003 allows local authorities to bypass these protections using emergency public safety powers – with no requirement to provide robust evidence justifying demolition.

This policy gap has created an alarming pattern where buildings are left to deteriorate until deemed "dangerous", then demolished without scrutiny, overriding heritage protections entirely – a process that MSP Paul Sweeney told parliament he believes is “subject to routine abuse and manipulation” in Scotland. 

On June 6th 2024, SAVE launched Petition PE2105, calling for urgent Parliamentary debate to close this gap. We're demanding two crucial changes to how the future of listed buildings are managed in Scotland:

1. That councils must provide clear, public evidence proving why demolition is absolutely necessary before any listed building can be torn down due to safety risks.
2. That expert conservation engineers must be consulted before any decisions are made that involve demolition.

This campaign is just getting started, but already SAVE has: 

• Successfully launched a Parliamentary petition demanding stronger safeguards (now close to reaching 4,000 signatures). The petition was deemed of “enormous public interest” during a Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee meeting, where it received strong support from MSPs and has prompted a cross-party roundtable to discuss next steps.
• Secured support from heritage societies and local campaigners across Scotland.
• Advocated for a number of specific cases that are victims of this loophole, like Ayr Station Hotel, Braemar Lodge in West Aberdeenshire and Glasgow’s ABC cinema.

The good news is, the Scottish Parliament is listening! Our petition will be considered by a roundtable of key individuals selected by the Public Petitions Committee this spring, where next steps will be considered. 

We still need your voice to strengthen our call. Join us in urging the Scottish Government to make urgent amendments before another heritage treasure is lost for good.