A bid by a leading Angus administration councillor to challenge the authority’s handling of a promotional tie-up with one of the world’s top female golfers has been torpedoed by the county’s provost.
Arbroath independent Peter Nield had placed two motions before a meeting of the full Angus Council in Forfar after earlier this week speaking out about the authority’s dealings in golf tourism and China subjects on which he has been previously vocal.
In one motion, Mr Nield attempted to probe the terms of a £25,000-a-year promotional contract involving former Open champion Catriona Matthew, claiming officers had failed to deliver a promised nine-month progress report ahead of a decision on whether or not to extend the arrangement.
A ruling by Angus provost Ruth Leslie Melville deprived Mr Nield of the opportunity to deliver his full attack on the issue, but that did not prevent him levelling an accusation that proceedings had been ”gerrymandered” by the inclusion of a hastily-prepared report on the outcomes of last summer’s British Women’s Open and the ongoing Carnoustie Country brand ambassadorial package.
The report revealed a huge seven-figure economic boost for Angus, but although Mr Nield’s bid to reject the findings was on the receiving end of a substantial voting defeat, he did find support within the chamber.
Chief amongst it was that of Alliance colleague and fellow Arbroath councillor Jim Millar who said he felt ”a bit misled” by the council’s handling of the project.
He said: ”When this report came forward first time around I voted against it. But some comfort was given that we would have a report after nine months (around December last year) that would identify whether we would continue with this.
”In reality, we spent £25,000 and here we have new report that’s big on web hit numbers and so on, but concerns me greatly that the will of this council has, on the face of it been ignored.
”I don’t think this has been conducted very well at all. The whole thing lacks transparency and it’s not an appropriate way to conduct business.”
Council leader Bob Myles said he felt the payback for the council had been ”tremendous”, particularly with the Matthew deal.
”What we received in terms of exposure during the Open justifies the £25,000 for that one event alone, but she went on to promote Carnoustie Country throughout the year and throughout the world,” he said.
”At the moment, all we are agreeing are the outcomes so far, and to note that a full report will come in June when a full assessment on whether to extend the contract can be made on the full figures available then.”
Councillors were told the Ricoh Women’s British Open’s first visit to Carnoustie brought a £3.965 million boost to Angus.
The seven-figure total was presented to councillors as part of the research findings of a joint study carried out around last July’s event, which drew over 30,000 spectators.
The performances of players including Scot Catriona Matthew, who is due to visit the county in her ambassadorial role next month, were also watched by a global television audience.
Using methodology applied to 50 other sport event evaluations over the last decade, the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University estimated the economic impact to Scotland as a whole from the event to be over £4.7 million.
That figure, and the £3.9m Angus share, included the spending of players and their entourages, spectators, media and sponsors.
The academics said over 700 hours of live coverage by almost 60 broadcasters represented a media equivalency value in excess of £7 million.
Some 65% of visitors also said they were ‘likely or very likely’ to revisit the area for leisure or a short stay within the next 12 months.