Highland Council opposition leader calls for Academy Street debate to be made public as ‘it is simply not right’ to hold the meeting behind closed doors
Highland Council opposition leader Alasdair Christie calls for the debate on the appeal over the Academy Street revamp scheme to be held in public.
The move comes a day after The Inverness Courier broke the news that the local authority wants to discuss the issue behind closed doors.
The public will be banned from a Highland Council debate on using taxpayers’ money to fund an appeal against its “unlawful” consultation about the project.
The move angered some people who have already accused the local authority of not being open about its plans that are aimed at reducing traffic in the city centre.
Cllr Christie said: “It is simply not right to decide on something so critical in private” as the council should show “total transparency, openness and fairness”.
He argues the reason it will be taken in private is so the councillors can hear legal advice for the “basis of appealing their recent humiliating loss at judicial review. “
Concerned traders are worried the project will deter customers - while it is designed to make the area more attractive to pedestrians and cyclists.
It reached this stage after Eastgate Shopping Centre representatives challenged the consultation process in court – Lord Sandison ruled the consultation was “unlawful”.
Then the council lodged an appeal to keep options open for councillors to choose what to do next when they meet on Thursday.
The agenda for next week’s meeting revealed “the public should be excluded from the meeting” as it “involves the likely disclosure of exempt information” as councillors consider a “confidential report” by assistant chief executive Malcolm MacLeod.
Cllr Christie, the Liberal Democrats leader, has now asked the convener that the Highland Council debate on the September 19 and vote is held in public on agreeing the options for Academy Street.
“On an issue as important as the future of Academy Street it is essential that the council shows total transparency, openness and fairness by allowing interested groups and communities to see or attend the debate,” he said.
“This topic has been followed by thousands of local folk and it is simply not right to decide on something so critical in private. Councillors are accountable to the public and voting behind closed doors is not acceptable to me”
He added: “The future of Academy Street and the city centre as a whole should be arrived at in collaboration with businesses, residents and community groups and not simply by the Council through flawed consultation processes.
“A return to the real spirit of co-production is what is required- and certainly not an expensive legal appeal led by the SNP administration which will waste more money. This is an opportunity for the council to show a degree of humility and to start to rebuild credibility on introducing major schemes in the city”.
