Last Monday night (26 November 2012) I tried to assist Dundee City Council by questioning why the works that were starting at Douglas Terrace Walkway had not been properly authorised. This could have led to the situation where a £887,579 contract was begun with no prospect of the bill being paid. This would have been bad for Dundee City Council, bad for Tayside Contracts and bad for the people of Dundee. I think my actions have saved the City Council from possible censure from Audit Scotland and from possible legal action.
Of course I wholeheartedly welcome this major improvement of the coastal pathway at Douglas Terrace. I made this clear on Monday night and in August when the planning permission for this work was granted. But it's important that contractual procedures are carefully followed or the Council might end up with a local version of the West Coast Mainline Trains fiasco on its hands.
At the City Development Committee meeting on Monday night, I questioned why it was that a contract worth more than £850,000 for rebuilding a section of the coastal pathway had been publicly advertised to begin on the morning on Monday 26 November, before it was brought to Committee that night. While I received a full apology for this oversight, it is still not clear who would have noticed this if I had not raised it on Thursday and Friday last week by telephone and email?
I was very disappointed that not every Councillor saw this as an important issue and some sought to close down my questions. I presume that they would rather that the Council acted illegally than have proper scrutiny of the Council's spending of public money.
