Compensation call over Conon Bridge school shambles
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
COUNCILLORS have demanded compensation for Ross communities after a damning report highlighted a catalogue of failures behind a school building programme.
Dingwall and Seaforth members want Highland Council to offer some kind of restitution to residents in Maryburgh and Conon Bridge after poor project management by senior officers plagued Ben Wyvis Primary with problems.
Independent councillor Alister Mackinnon said thepaper clearly showed that theproblems were caused by "sheer and utter incompetence".
SNP councillor Graham MacKenzie said the community deserved an apology and compensation for promises made then broken.
Speaking during a two-hour debate by the audit and scrutiny committee in Inverness today (Wednesday), he said the council had not even held an official opening ceremony.
Cllr MacKenzie said: "What sort of compensation is Highland Council going to give to the communities in respect of the lack of community facilities that were promised and yet seem not to have been provided? You might want to look at the Maryburgh Community Hall and see if you can upgrade their facilities."
A report on the internal audit in to the building of the multi-million pound primary – which was described as a shambles by local residents fed up with the blunders – was published last week.
It comes after school staff reported a catalogue of problems and councillors were inundated with complaints from parents for nine months after the primary opened in October 2012 – which was nearly five months behind schedule and beset by snagging problems.
It says the original contract value of the school was £6.5 million, but the actual contract value ended at £7.4 million.
Members said council chief executive Steve Barron, who was director of property services when the school building project was underway, should have attended the audit and scrutiny meeting to respond to some of the concerns.
He declined to be interviewed but issued a press statement apologising to the community.
He said as chief executive of Highland Council and as the previous director of the housing and property service at the time that the Ben Wyvis Primary School project was planned and undertaken, he would like to apologise.
He said: "The audit report clearly highlights significant failures in the council’s management of this contract. Local members have made clear their dissatisfaction with the performance of council officers and with the lack of adequate responses to the issues they raised on behalf of the local community.
"I accept these criticisms and offer my sincere apologies to the communities, to the school staff and to elected members."
Brian Porter, head of the council’s resources of the care and learning team, said he would explore whether it might be possible to provide the communities with compensation.
He said action plans were in place to improve project management and a detailed report would be brought to the committee in November.
Council leader Margaret Davidson said it was a "tragedy" that the communities of Maryburgh and Conon Bridge did not have an official opening of their school and steps would be taken towards this.
