Aberdeen could be forced to fork out an extra £10 million for a new school in Tillydrone because no contract was ever signed with the builders, it has been claimed.
Construction of the replacement Riverbank School has already begun at the site of the former Tillydrone and St Machar primaries.
But workers have cleared the site after laying the foundations.
Council officials this week revealed plans to potentially down tools on the long-awaited, now £36.2m, school for at least four to six months.
Freeze on building Aberdeen school comes amid huge cost cutting exercise
But now the SNP have come out swinging, claiming the forecasted £10m price hike on the Riverbank project was caused by flawed paperwork.
Council officials were asked about the extraordinary claims on Thursday but have so far been unable to comment.
In February, councillors were told Robertson Construction had been hired to lay the foundations to speed up building after Covid delayed the project.
At that time, bids for the main job were being considered by officers with the hope of “continuous” flow into the full construction by awarding the contract in time.
Lockdowns and furlough of key staff had been blamed for delays in getting designs for the school together.
It was hoped it would open a year late, next August.
Change in council leadership brings fears of ‘cuts, closures and cancellations’
The nationalists took charge of the council, in partnership with the Liberal Democrats, in May.
Since then, an in-depth review of capital spending has been launched, while the unpopular decision to close the Beach Leisure pool for months after the school holidays was also taken.
Councillors could this week sign off on halting work to build new council houses at Craighill, Kincorth, Tillydrone and Kaimhill “at the next most appropriate milestone”.
Resources director Steve Whyte says it would be a “prudent” step while ways to cut costs on the city’s huge housebuilding scheme.
It has prompted fears of a new era of “cuts, closures, and cancellations” under their stewardship.
Allegations previous Aberdeen council leadership never signed contract for new school construction – allowing in £10m price rise
For the last 10 years, Labour ran the council in coalition with the Conservatives and independents.
And it is this previous administration that SNP finance convener Alex McLellan is pinning the blame on.
He told The P&J: “We will take no lessons from the Labour group who had been in charge of the council for the last 10 years.
“They could have delivered Tillydrone Primary, but the reality is that they had not even signed a contract for the completion of the school build. In terms of the delivery of their long promised 2,000 houses, they have fallen well short of that target during their time in office.
“I would like to provide a clear assurance that the SNP and Liberal Democrat partnership now running Aberdeen City Council will deliver a new primary school for Tillydrone and will take steps to improve our housing stock in the city as we move forward.”
‘Absolutely no excuse’: Labour hit back at ‘appalling’ SNP considering Tillydrone freeze
His attack on his predecessors came as Labour claimed angry Tillydrone residents “deserve better”, while the hundreds waiting for a council house would be “appalled” at the suggestion of putting construction on hold.
Aberdeen leader Sandra Macdonald said: “The SNP have been in power for only twelve weeks and already we see a raft of services and projects under threat.
“The previous Labour-led administration left the council finances in good shape and set a budget that was achievable and deliverable.
“It hasn’t taken long for SNP and Lib Dem councillors to take a red line through the things that local people most want: new homes and new schools.”
Claims the council had failed to sign a contract to have the new Tillydrone school built were put to Mrs Macdonald.
She told us the timetable was put in place by the legal need for consultation, dictated by the Scottish Government.
“There is absolutely no excuse for the SNP to delay this any further,” the George Street and Harbour councillor added.
“The foundations are in. The longer they take to start building, the more it’s going to cost.”
The SNP’s Mr McLellan highlighted that all council groups had voted for the review of the council’s capital projects, in the face of “ongoing supply chain issues”.
He added: “The circumstances which we are dealing are not like anything we have seen for decades.”
Angry Tillydrone parents want council bosses to face public meeting over school construction halt
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