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Dundee council leader says city will be transformed despite ‘one hand behind back’

Despite facing a budget black hole, John Alexander says Dundee is transforming for the better.

Dundee City Council leader John Alexander. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson
Dundee City Council leader John Alexander. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson

Dundee is “transforming for the better” despite “one hand behind its back” due to budget constraints, the city council leader has insisted.

John Alexander says he remains optimistic about creating jobs and alleviating poverty in the city, despite looking down the barrel of a £17m funding gap next year.

Looking ahead to 2024, the SNP Strathmartine councillor said: “We have got to be optimistic.

“I think we are all guilty, to some degree or another, of having rose-tinted glasses.

Dundee waterfront.  Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson

He added: “I see frequently comments about what the city was like in the 80s and 90s.

“Now I remember what the city was like, it was a disaster and I think people forget how far we’ve come sometimes.

“People genuinely think Dundee is transforming for the better, and they are impressed by the pace of that change and that’s what we need to focus on that and continue pushing.

“Because it’s only by doing that that we will leverage in more investment, create jobs and alleviate poverty.

“Despite the fact that we might be doing it with one hand tied behind our back because of our finances.”

Dundee City Council leader John Alexander. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

Among the future investment Mr Alexander is most excited about is the Eden Project, lined up to open in 2026.

A full planning application for the £130m Dundee Eden Project was submitted earlier this month, marking the next step in the development, first revealed in 2019.

“I think it’s really caught the imagination of the city,” said Mr Alexander.

An artist’s impression of the proposed Eden Project Dundee. Image: The Eden Project

“The one thing that seems to have united quite a lot of folk in the city, across all the communities, is the Eden Project.

“I think people really see and can imagine that being in place and what it means for a city like Dundee in terms of continuing that transformation journey.

“It’s always the things that bring a bit of positivity into people’s lives that I enjoy the most.”

Artist impressions of Eden Project. Image: Eden Project

But it has not all been plain sailing for Dundee, as the council has been at the forefront of a two-year closure of the Olympia swimming pools.

The centre reopened in December after being shut since October 2021 for more than £6 million worth of repairs.

Mr Alexander hopes lessons will be learned from the multi-million-pound fiasco.

The Olympia Swimming Pool is finally re-opened to the public after being closed since October 2021. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson

He said: “The more important thing in a sense, is that it never ever happens again,”

“That there is no recurrence in any of our buildings or any of our assets of a similar nature.

“So lessons learned, what are you going to do about it going forward?

“I might not be here at the next election so it’s not about who the political administration is – we need to embed that in the practice of the council.”

Early Olympia questions not addressed properly

But the council chief admitted that signals pointing to issues around the site had not been properly addressed at the time.

He said: “It’s not like the problems just started a couple of years ago and all of a sudden they’ve manifested, the problems have been there since day one – and that’s the thing that’s all the more galling.

“There have clearly been – from day one – questions perhaps that haven’t been addressed properly.

“But I am delighted that we have finally got it open.”

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