Aberdeen’s Labour-led council administration was yesterday accused of political interference in the planning process as a fresh row erupted over the controversial Marischal Square development.
Liberal Democrat Jennifer Stewart claimed the ruling coalition would use its majority to push through an application for listed building consent for alteration work at Provost Skene’s House.
Last night Labour group secretary Willie Young demanded an apology for the statement and said the issue may be reported to local government watchdogs since the behaviour she was accusing them of is against the law.
Mrs Stewart’s comments followed an 8-5 committee vote against the proposals amid widespread public concerns about the impact on the setting and character of the much-loved historic property.
The application was referred to full council to make the final decision after convener Ramsay Milne won sufficient backing from his colleagues for the move.
That prompted the outburst from Mrs Stewart, who said she believed the administration would vote through the application to remove steps and the balustrade and re-position a stone arch.
If councillors were found to have colluded on planning decisions, it would contravene the councillors’ code of conduct and could also constitute a Misconduct in Public Office offence.
Last night, Labour group secretary Willie Young said the claim from Mrs Stewart was “outrageous”, and may result in her being reported to the Public Standards Commissioner for Scotland.
Mr Milne described the accusation as “libellous”, and insisted “categorically” that the Labour group did not discuss planning matters before taking a decision. However, he did acknowledge that his group often voted the same way on applications.
This tallies with analysis of previous minutes from the committee, which shows Labour councillors in particular have regularly voted the same way on planning issues.
Mr Milne defended his actions, saying: “This is an absolutely proper thing to do, it was quite a close vote and I think it is an issue of importance and I am quite convinced that this should go to full council because there are enough members of this committee who support it.”
Speaking outside the committee room, Mrs Stewart, argued that the crux of the problems surrounding the Marischal Square scheme came down to the fact that the council owns the land and has a financial interest in the project, so cannot be objective.
She said: “I was disappointed that the convener chose to refer this to full council. In the same committee today, there was another item which he lost 8-6 and he chose not to refer that to full council.
“I would eat my hat if this application is rejected at full council, but the reality is the administration runs the city by numbers alone.”
SNP councillor Bill Cormie also spoke up during the committee exchanges between councillors Stewart and Milne. He questioned why the listed building consent application did not bypass the committee in the same way as the original application for the £107million Muse Developments project.
Mr Milne insisted: “That would have been inappropriate.”
Last night, Labour group secretary Mr Young said Mrs Stewart should apologise.
He said: “It is so serious now that I will take it to our group on Monday and see if they wish to report her to the standards commission, because it is outrageous to suggest that the administration in any way, shape or form, talks about planning matters.
“(Mrs Stewart) has made allegations that are false and could damaging to the city because the perception would be that there is political interference in planning, which is illegal.”