You may have read the article in the Paisley Daily Express covering our eviction from Oakshaw Street. In the article, Renfrewshire Council responded by saying that they offered us another lease but we refused to accept it. What was missed completely in the article was the fact that taking on the proposed lease could have cost individual members of the club a staggering £640,000 if some sort of disaster had struck and the building had been destroyed or damaged to the state where it needed to be rebuilt. It’s easy to say that this is an extremely unlikely scenario but you should bear in mind that the Titanic was unsinkable.

The explanation for this is simple - no one actually knows who the legal owners of 55 Oakshaw Street are, all that is known is that it belongs to one or more of the descendants of Thomas Coats. The building was left in Trust for the good of the people of Paisley and Paisley Photographic Society have copies of the Trust Documents and Deeds that make this very plain. This being the case, it is impossible to fill out an insurance form legitimately as this requires the owners to be listed. Renfrewshire Council told us to put them down as the legal owners but the insurance company could easily declare the insurance invalid and refuse to pay as this is not true. The lease Renfrewshire Council proposed - as they stated in their response in the Paisley Daily Express - requires the signees to agree to accept responsibility for all costs associated with the building - inside and out - but the result of this is that potentially the total rebuild cost - £640,000 - would have to come out of the pockets of club members who signed the lease should anything disastrous happen.

Renfrewshire Council wants to sell 55 Oakshaw Street but let’s be absolutely clear about this, the Trust document declares that the premises in Oakshaw Street are to be HELD IN TRUST FOR THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE OF PAISLEY and Renfrewshire Council has absolutely no right to sell the building.

Renfrewshire Council may be under the impression that the Trust Deeds were set aside when Paisley Corporation took control of The Observatory and adjoining buildings but this did NOT happen and the original Trust Deeds are still in force.

 

You will always be a welcome guest at Paisley Photographic Society

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Our club, the oldest in Scotland, was founded in 1857 and ever since then we have met every Friday evening at 7.30pm in our clubrooms at Oakshaw Street. Our year commences the first Friday of September.

The club is exceptional in that we embrace every aspect of Photography from Black and White, Colour, Prints, Slides and Digital work. As a member you would have access to all our facilities [seven days a week] which include fully equipped Darkrooms, Studio, Digital Room and Reading room with library of Books, Magazines and Videos. For a modest charge you can hire the Studio or Digital Lab or our Home Studio Lighting pack.

We offer classes for beginners in all branches of Photography and offer a varied and exciting programme of formal activities including Competitions, Studio Nights, and Lectures from September to April, with informal meetings and outings during the summer period.

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