An SNP councillor has called for a full investigation into the “escalating costs” of the proposed site of a new Madras College on green belt land at Pipeland in St Andrews.
West Fife councillor David Mogg who raised concerns when Fife Council was accused of paying well over the odds for the St Andrews farmland this summer has now called for the matter to be brought before Fife Council’s standards and audit committee.
Concern about the price of the land at Pipeland was raised by councillors in June when Fife Council was accused of paying well over the odds for the farmland on which it is proposed the new secondary school will be built.
The council agreed then to stump up £1.8 million for 30 acres of prime agricultural land at Pipeland Farm, on the town’s southern boundary.
At that meeting of the council’s education, social and communities scrutiny committee, Conservative councillor Andy Heer claimed the site was worth only £150,000, a fraction of what the authority is to pay owner Muir Group for it.
Mr Heer said £1.8 million approved by the district valuer was a “jaw-dropping” price, amounting to £60,000 per acre and 10 times the going rate for top-grade agricultural land.
At that meeting, Mr Mogg demanded a report be prepared detailing the background to the purchase. He also questioned whether the sum which will be included in the £42 million budget for replacing Madras College would compromise facilities for pupils.
Yesterday Mr Mogg revealed he had since pursued a freedom of information request about the land prices at Pipeland, after, he said, the council’s Labour administration refused to examine the reasons for the “massive hike”.
The FOI findings had, he said, confirmed the site was valued at £160,000 by DVS Property Specialists for the Public Sector in August 2012 and £1.8 million by the same surveyors in February this year.
He said: “I, along with most Fife councillors, want to see a new single-site Madras college built as soon as possible but I recognise we are working within tight budgets.
“It is vital the limited funds available are spent on the fabric and facilities of a new school and not on land that gives all the appearances of being grossly overvalued.
“The information I received from my FOI request leads me to believe that the proposed purchase is not value for money.
“I cannot understand, and nor has it been satisfactorily explained, how land valued at less than £160,000 one day can suddenly be worth £1.8 million the next.
“I suspect that the hard-pressed taxpayers of Fife will be similarly puzzled.
“Until we have full confidence that this proposed purchase of green belt agricultural land at a value of £1.8 million is good value, I for one cannot support it.”
Mr Mogg added: “I have asked that the standards and audit committee of the council investigate this proposed purchase so we can finally and fully examine why the value of this greenbelt agricultural land appears to have miraculously increased by many times its current value.
“I don’t want to see the taxpayers of Fife ripped off. I believe it is in everyone’s interest to have the matter examined in detail.”
Iain Matheson, chief legal officer, Fife Council said: “We have received independent valuation advice from the District Valuer that the proposed site price is reasonable.
“We are now undertaking detailed site investigations to inform the design of the new school.
“Any decision to proceed, including the purchase price to be paid, will require to be decided by the council’s executive committee.”