By Bob Duncan
Labour’s incompetence in office has been exposed as its actions have led to the failure of the George Square refurbishment and Union Terrace Gardens projects, say the SNP.
Both of these projects collapsed because of choices made by the Labour administrations in Glasgow and Aberdeen respectively.
In Glasgow, Labour leader Gordon Matheson has scrapped plans to refurbish George Square.
Mr Matheson’s unexpected U-turn meant £100,000 was wasted on a process to choose a winning design. The controversial redevelopment work would have involved the removal of most of the historic statues at a cost of £15 million.
The project was almost universally unpopular with Glaswegians and the decision to pull the plug was made as planned protests were due to take place. Many locals were unhappy that Matheson’s Labour administration didn’t consult people living in the city.
This news was announced days after it emerged that Mr Matheson had been reported to the procurator fiscal after allegedly committing an indecent act in public with another man.
City Garden Project
The scrapping of the George Square plans followed a decision by the Labour administration in Aberdeen to abandon plans to re-develop Aberdeen City Gardens.
Labour councillors ignored the result of a local referendum which resulted in the loss of £50 million in financing for Aberdeen Art Gallery, a pedestrian walking route, the redevelopment of St Nicholas House and the redevelopment of the Upper Denburn area.
SNP MSP James Dornan said:
“Both projects have been turned into a shambles by Labour, and simply demonstrate their incompetence in office.
“People will not forgive the ineptitude of these Labour administrations that have created mess after mess.
“The people of Glasgow will also be understandably angry that £90,000 of their money has been spent on a process that they weren’t even consulted on and then scrapped.
“This is two city centre regeneration projects Labour has now messed up in short succession.
“The people of Scotland deserve much better than this. Where Labour is in office it should strive to do what’s best for the people they are accountable to, not refuse to listen to them.”
