Court papers reveal Kibble feasibility study on St Mirren-owned site

Daily Record

6 hours ago

The documents, put before the Court of Session in Edinburgh, show the children's charity commissioned a feasibility study of the Ferguslie Park site as a potential location for a wellbeing centre.
Kibble was considering St Mirren FC-owned land as a possible location for its wellbeing centre, court documents suggest.
Papers, put before the Court of Session in Edinburgh, reveal the children's charity commissioned a feasibility study of the Ferguslie Park site as a potential location for its wellbeing centre.
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It had, the court was told, identified land to the north of the SMiSA stadium as a potential location, as well as sites in Lochwinnoch and Paisley.
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Architecture firm Stallan-Brand was instructed to carry out the feasibility study in September 2021 – 18 months after Kibble secured a 27.5 per cent stake in St Mirren FC (SMFC).
Kibble refused to comment on the feasibility study as part of a detailed inquiry which was submitted by the Paisley Daily Express last week.
The documents were put before the Court of Session as part of a defamation case brought by Kibble chief executive Jim Gillespie and Mark MacMillan, Kibble's director of corporate services.
The pair – who represent Kibble on the Buddies board – lodged a defamation case against Mr Wardrop who claimed the men had acted dishonestly.
He alleged they were using Kibble's position as a shareholder in St Mirren to push through secret plans for the wellbeing centre on land owned by the football club.
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Last week, Judge Clark ruled the Kibble bosses had no 'secret plan' to build on the land and, further, that they had not lied to 'cover up' their actions. He also found that Mr Gillespie and Mr MacMillan had no plan to buy the shares in SMFC in order to obtain that land.
Mr Wardrop was found to have defamed Mr Gillespie and Mr MacMillan on this basis.
But their claim for damages was dismissed as Lord Clark said he believed that Mr Wardrop's comments were in the public interest and were honestly held based on the evidence he had at the time – both defences under the Scottish law around defamation damages.
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Amongst that evidence was a stage one application to the regeneration capital grant fund (RCGF), which sought £2.65million in Scottish Government funding to help pay for the wellbeing centre.
An appendix to that application included a map showing the proposed centre would be positioned on St Mirren FC-owned land.
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Kibble has long maintained the area on the map had been identified in error by a Renfrewshire Council employee, a claim the local authority has repeatedly refuted.
Conflicting accounts from Renfrewshire Council officers and staff at Kibble, however, meant Lord Clark did not accept the area had been identified by Kibble as fact.
He did, however, state he found it 'concerning' that the stage two application 'contained several falsehoods'.
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In the judgement issued last week, Lord Clark said: 'It is nonetheless plainly inappropriate that this stage two application contained several falsehoods.
'For that application to state that the sale of land had been agreed and that an application for planning permission would be submitted by December 2022 when the pursuers' evidence was that no such land had been identified, is concerning.'
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Kibble failed to explain how such false statements came to be included in the application, or any actions to investigate the inaccuracies, when asked by the Paisley Daily Express.
Lord Clark said the false statements were not an attempt to gain public money on a false basis, adding: 'This action has not been raised on behalf of Kibble, but charitable funds have been used to facilitate this action. This can also give rise to some degree of concern, but ultimately it is a matter for the board of Kibble to determine how and when to spend funds.'
Stuart Munro of Livingstone Brown, solicitor for Mr Gillespie and Mr MacMillan, said: 'My clients required to bring this action after Mr Wardrop wrongly accused them of having a 'secret plan' to build on land owned by St Mirren FC and of lying about it.
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'They are extremely pleased the judge, having heard detailed evidence from numerous witnesses, made it clear in his written judgment that there was no such secret plan, thus setting the record straight.
'Furthermore, the judgement underlines that Mr Wardrop's very public allegations were, as my clients have consistently stated, both untrue and defamatory.
'The judge also agreed that Mr Wardrop's untrue and defamatory statements caused serious harm to their reputations.
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'Notwithstanding the finding that Mr Wardrop was entitled to publish, the judge made it very clear that, the true facts having now been established, any future repetition of his claims would have serious consequences.'
David Nairn, chair of Kibble, said: 'We are extremely pleased that the judgment underlines the facts in this case and vindicates the board's unanimous decision to support Jim and Mark in what was an important action to protect their reputations and that of Kibble.'
However, Lord Clark ultimately dismissed the case and granted a 'decree of absolvitor' in favour of the defender, meaning Mr Wardrop was not found liable for any damages.
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The judge also reserved his decision on expenses, stating a judgement on who should pay for the legal fees involved will be issued at a later date.
Mr Wardrop told the Paisley Daily Express: 'Prior to applying to join the SMiSA board, I had conducted detailed investigations as to the whereabouts of the land forming part of Kibble's RCGF applications for a wellbeing centre.
'I had done this, having been met with a wall of silence from the Kibble directors of St Mirren Football Club, Jim Gillespie and Mark McMillan to my repeated requests for information.
'Had they acted with transparency and provided me with a copy of the stage one application that I requested then, in all likelihood, none of the events of the last two years would have transpired.'