Aberdeen council workers have started demolishing a city wall – without knowing who owns it.
Work began yesterday to partially tear down the six foot high granite structure on Mile End road after a crack was discovered.
The local authority was forced to step in and carry out the work before identifying the owner due to the dangerous nature of the deterioration.
A council spokeswoman said: “There is a large crack in the wall, caused by a tree pushing out the granite blocks.
“The work will reduce the wall down to a safe height, with the stone set aside. They will involve partial demolition of the wall to the safe height, and road restrictions to allow demolition.
“These emergency works are being carried using the legislation contained in the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984, clause 91, which relates to walls endangering the public road.
“It is Aberdeen City Council’s intention to make the wall safe and barrier the area while investigations into ownership are completed. It is expected the wall will be reinstated.”
The council recently had to stop repair work on Wellington Brae at the last minute when it was discovered that more than £200,000 of taxpayer cash was sanctioned for a project – despite never being cleared by a committee.
Political opponents had alleged that then finance chief Willie Young was the owner of the land but it later transpired that he had disposed of it more than two decades previously and he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
And in January, a report into the potential £210,000 work on the 12th century Balnagask Motte was pulled at the last minute when the owner of a historic wall could not be identified.
Jackie Dunbar, SNP operations spokeswoman said: “Whilst it is important for the council to take action in the best interest of public safety, trees don’t tend to grow at a particularly rapid rate so you would have hoped that someone could have identified the owner of the wall long before now.”
Liberal Democrat group leader Ian Yuill said: “Public safety must be the priority.
“(But) The council should not end up paying for repairs and work carried out on a wall owned by someone else.”
Council co-leader Douglas Lumsden said: “I think we have agreement from everyone that the safety of the people of Aberdeen has to come first.
“We will do absolutely everything in our power to recover the cost to the taxpayer.”
