An 11th hour bid by Aberdeen City Council’s SNP councillors to block a controversial multi-million pound redevelopment was in disarray last night after it was blocked by the city’s Lord Provost.
George Adam described the attempt at lodging an emergency motion to halt the Marischal Square scheme as “incompetent” – and condemned the main opposition group for not following protocol by alerting officials to its plan.
The party revealed to the press late on Monday night that it would be staging a “significant intervention” against the project, the details of which would be revealed at a press conference yesterday afternoon.
SNP group leader Callum McCaig and convener Kirsty Blackman announced they were tabling the “last chance” motion amid claims the public had been “misled” on what the development would look like.
The pair described the scheme as the “most unpopular” to be proposed in Aberdeen in their lifetime, and called for a report on the implications of withdrawing from the contract with the company behind it, Muse Developments Ltd.
But just hours later, the provost said he could not allow the motion to be heard as the appropriate officials had not been contacted prior to its submission.
Local government law requires seven days notice before motions can be accepted.
“The reason for the requirement for the referral of a motion to the appropriate director for consultation prior to its submission is to allow full council to be appraised of all the legal, financial, regulatory and planning aspects of motions,” said Mr Adam.
“This is particularly crucial where motions could have a significant impact on the city.”
Last night, Cllr McCaig said he was “disappointed” that the provost was not listening to the wishes of the public, but that he had expected the Labour-led administration to use “technical issues” to refuse it.
He said he would lodge a request today for a special council meeting to be held so the issue could be debated – and that the provost had no choice but to allow it to happen.
“This is a minor bump and I think it shows the administration has a major contempt for democracy,” said Cllr McCaig.
“This is their attempt to be clever, but it will not stop us.”