The opposition SNP group has performed a U-turn on plans for a new Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) and will back the project at a full council meeting today.
The SNP had voiced concerns about the affordability of the new development at Bucksburn – and one councillor resigned from the AECC board in January.
However, group leader Callum McCaig yesterday said that a new business case that has been drawn up by local authority officers had allayed those fears.
The turnaround comes despite reports that the headline costs for the scheme – which includes a 15,000 capacity arena, two hotels and an energy from waste plant – have ballooned from the original estimate of £185million to more than £330million.
In a statement yesterday, Mr McCaig said “significant work” remained to be done, while he would require “further comfort” on the financial model and the infrastructure at the facility.
But he added: “I believe that these can be overcome and that a decision can be taken to proceed with what is without doubt a hugely exciting project for the city.”
Last night, council leader Jenny Laing said: “We welcome the U-turn but I am a little bit surprised following some of the public comments – the project was described as a white elephant by the SNP.
“When people go off early into the public domain expressing their view without the full facts, it can be a dangerous thing.
“They have had to come back from that now they have the business case before them.”
Mr McCaig said: “When the facts change, you can change your mind.
“That’s something that the Labour party has never learned and they regularly bury their heads in the sand.
“The simple explanation is, when the business plan was first produced, it did not stack up.
“We asked a number of questions and raised a number of concerns.
“Our officers and the development partners have addressed those and then some. It would be churlish now not to support it.”
The AECC business case will be discussed in private session at a full council meeting today.