Council could be forced to fork out millions after Countesswells firm collapse

Council chiefs could be forced to fork out millions to cover a shortfall in developer obligations after the firm behind Countesswells collapsed.

Last month Countesswells Development Limited (CDL) went into administration, citing the impact of the oil and gas downturn and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The news came just weeks after construction began on the long-delayed first primary school in the new community.

Earlier this year the school was at the heart of a wrangle over developer contributions, with Aberdeen City Council agreeing any delay was the fault of CDL.

Council ‘must revise cost of school’

Now Town House finance chief Steve Whyte has admitted city leaders could face a bill far larger than its £18.9 million share, due to the company being unable to make further payments.

Mr Whyte admitted it could take several weeks of “analysis” for the full impact of CDL’s collapse on the council to be fully known.

However, he warned the authority would have to “revise” its spend on the new school at next year’s budget as it would need to “address any shortfall that may arise”.

“We are working through the implications,” he added.

“They [CDL] were behind in their payments, and that was partly the reason why we had not entered into a contract to build the school previously.”

No delay to Countesswells school

Mr Whyte did confirm there will be no delays to the construction of the new Countesswells School, which was originally due to open this year but was held up.

Council officials are understood to be confident it will be ready to welcome pupils in time for the revised opening date of 2023.

Last week CDL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stewart Milne Group, announced it had gone into administration with just 900 of more than 3,000 planned homes at Countesswells either built or under construction.

As the company sells off chunks of land to separate housebuilders such as Barratt, Kirkwood and Dandara, projects which are already underway are not expected to be impacted.

But the shock announcement has raised questions over the wider future of the £800 million development, and it is not yet known what will happen to areas still under CDL’s control.

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