In July 2024, the new Labour government

Its congregation for Sunday services is small, in what is a quiet rural area of just a few hundred people.The kirk hopes nearby Bervie Church will serve as the main focus of local worship.

The Church of Scotland said that, in recent years, it had identified a need for "radical change against a backdrop of falling minister numbers, a decline in membership and a reduction in income".A statement said: "We believe a significant reduction in the number of buildings we own is necessary in order to deliver sustainable and realistic new expressions of ministry and church and to ensure all of our buildings are suitable for the needs of mission in the 21st century."As part of the process, the local presbytery has taken the decision to release Arbuthnott Church."

The statement added: "There are no set dates as yet, but under the current mission plan, Arbuthnott Church would be released by the end of 2025."Mr Roberts-McIntosh said the local community was determined to save a building that was so intrinsic to one of Scotland's most-loved novels.

As well as honouring the author, it is thought the building could also become a local hub for events such as concerts, aided by the acoustics of the church building.

Mr Roberts-McIntosh said the the building itself was "fundamentally sound".The inquiry also heard about a number of failings or near misses in the way security, police, paramedics and the media responded to the attack.

It was told that recruitment and training pressures for the security provider meant that the centre's control room operator was "not match fit" for the role. At the exact moment when Cauchi stabbed his first victim, the room was unattended as she was on a toilet break.Security guard Faraz Tahir, the sole male victim of the stabbings, was working his first day in the job when he was killed trying to stop Cauchi, raising questions over the powers and protection given to personnel like him.

His brother, Muzafar, told the inquest how Faraz died "with honour as a hero" and also acknowledged that Cauchi's parents had lost their son: "We know that this tragedy is not their fault."The contractor responsible for security at the shopping centre has since updated its training and policies, as well as introducing stab-proof vests for guards.