Aberdeen City Council does have the power to revoke planning permission for the controversial Marischal Square development, the Press and Journal can reveal.
Documents obtained by this newspaper have supported what campaigners previously suggested – that a legal avenue exists under which the authority could halt the £107million scheme.
The latest revelation comes as councillors prepare to debate the future of the hotel, office and retail complex plans at a meeting later today.
Senior councillors have previously said there is no scope for a U-turn on the project, and finance convener Willie Young described the objectors’ legislation claim as a “red herring”.
But the advice seen by the Press and Journal points out that section 65 of the Town and County Planning (Scotland) act 1997 allows for planning consent to be revoked.
It would be a “rarely used provision” in cases where the consent was “grossly wrong and damaging to the wider public interest”, the document adds.
And any decision to revoke could require the backing of Scottish Ministers, who have already declined a request to call-in the application.
The meeting today was requisitioned by the opposition SNP group on the council, which has asked for an “immediate moratorium” on delegated powers relating to planning decisions on the Broad Street site.
The term delegated powers refers to decisions taken by officials, rather than politicians.
The SNP motion also calls for a report to come back to the next scheduled full council meeting on the “legal implications of withdrawing” from the contract with project partner, Muse Developments Ltd.
Last night, SNP group spokesman Graham Dickson said the fact that the legal advice was now in the public domain meant there was no longer an argument for holding a large chunk of today’s meeting behind closed doors.
Campaigners have reacted angrily to the suggestion that the press and public may be excluded from the bulk of the debate in the council chamber.
Mr Dickson said: “I cannot comment on legal advice that has not been given to me. However, since the administration appears to have shared this legal advice publicly then their excuses for wanting to hold the meeting in private are paper thin now.”
Last night, city finance convener Mr Young said: “We have obviously sought legal advice from our legal officers because the motion put forward by the SNP asked for legal advice.
“We did not want to go in to the meeting without legal advice. It is complicated and it does not just rest with section 65 of the act. It is more expansive than that.
“The law is a complicated beast.”
Mr Young has previously suggested a U-turn on the scheme could leave the council open to a claim for damages, amounting to as much as £100million, from Muse Developments.
The Reject Marischal Square Development group claimed last month that there was scope within the law for councillors to revoke permission for the scheme.
Spokeswoman Lorna McHattie said: “The Reject Marischal Square Development campaign group are delighted that the council’s own lawyers have confirmed what we knew already – that this development can be stopped.
“We would now urge councillors who voted in favour of the development to act in accordance of the clear wishes of the public and Reject Marischal Square.”
Public opposition to the Marischal Square plan, which developers say will create 1,500 jobs in addition to 300 posts during the construction phase, has snowballed in recent weeks.
Protests were fuelled by the publication online of an unauthorised 3D interpretation of how the development will look.
Two public demonstrations have taken place, although planning permission was granted in October last year. Work on site is due to start this month.