SNP councillors in Moray have furiously blasted local authority leaders after a road improvement plan they secured funding for was controversially axed.
During a meeting at the end of March, Nationalist members successfully argued that £42,000 should be included in the council’s capital plan to carry out preliminary works on improving safety along the B9016 Buckie-Keith route.
But, following that meeting, it emerged that two councillors who voted in favour of the scheme – Buckie independent member and Fochaber Lhanbryde Labour representative Sean Morton – were not fully aware of what the proposal entailed.
And four members of the ruling administration group had varying understandings of the project.
Moray Council’s corporate director, Mark Palmer, determined that members didn’t have “a full and consistent understanding of the issue” and brought it back to the drawing board yesterday.
SNP group leader Gary Coull said that the council was ignoring its own constitutional practices by ordering a review of the decision.
Opponents of the scheme argued that ploughing £42,000 into start-up work on a project that was unlikely to ever proceed would be a waste of money.
And members ultimately voted 13-11 in favour of axing the work.
Following the decision, Speyside Glenlivet SNP member Pearl Paul accused council bosses of “jiggery pokery”.
And Buckie councillor Gordon McDonald said: “This complete disregard for the council’s constitution is dictatorial and totally undemocratic.
“It creates a very unwelcome precedent that could allow officers to bring reports straight back to committee if they are unhappy with the original decision and want it changed.”
Members also agreed to drop compulsory purchase orders they had arranged in preparation for the recently abandoned Western Link Road project through Elgin.
Following the scheme’s demise, officers put forward a report detailing a new transport strategy for the town, designed to combat congestion in some areas.
But councillors opted to defer any decision on the project until more detail could be provided on the £100,000 sum that officers say revising traffic plans will cost.
