Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Blackness tenement demolition ‘bad financial decision’ says former SNP councillor

Jimmy Black, who previously represented the Coldside ward, says lessons need to be learnt from the decision to raze the Blackness Road flats.

Former councillor Jimmy Black says lessons need to be learned from Blackness tenement demolition. Image: DC Thomson.
Former councillor Jimmy Black says lessons need to be learned from Blackness tenement demolition. Image: DC Thomson.

Lessons need to be learned from the “bad financial decision” to demolish a historic Blackness tenement block, a former SNP councillor has said.

Jimmy Black, who previously represented the Coldside ward, has been a long-time critic of the controversial decision to tear down the century-old block in 2021.

The flats at 219 – 245 Blackness Road were razed following a decision made by councillors four years earlier.

It came after safety inspectors ruled the traditional rear spiral stairwells at the site – named ‘pletties’ – were deteriorating and could become as risk to the public.

Energy efficient flats planned for Blackness site

Following the demolition, Dundee City Council unveiled plans to build an energy-efficient flatted development on the site.

Planning permission for the project was granted in February 2022 but more than two years on, building work is yet to commence.

And it’s now been revealed the project is facing a £2m budget shortfall after the local authority failed to secure the full grant requested from the Scottish Government.

The work to demolish the tenement flats on Blackness Road in 2021. Image: Kim Cessford/ DC Thomson.

This has sparked concern from the former Coldside councillor, who labelled the demolition decision as “poorly thought out”.

“Looking back, they could have sorted out the stair towers for around £1.2m”, Mr Black said.

“Now, that was a substantial sum of money but nonetheless it would mean the buildings would still be standing and people would still be housed.

“It’s fairly clear it was a bad financial decision.”

How the new flats could look. Image: Dundee City Council.

He added: “It was poorly thought out because it didn’t take into account all the costs involved in their decision.

“They had a vision of warm, energy efficient housing – which is good – but they could’ve achieved the same by investing in the building already there.

“There was a number of problems with the building but there were tenants who loved their flats and were really disappointed to lose them.”

Council exploring options

Responding to revelations of the budget shortfall, Dundee City Council said officers were working on an options appraisal to examine how the development could move forward and the alternative sources of funding available.

A spokesperson said: “This exercise includes an examination of the projected timescales and costings for each of the proposals.

“Once completed, a report will be submitted to Council for its consideration.”

But Mr Black said lessons needed to be learned to avoid a similar situation in the future.

He added: “It’s a lesson for the future – make use of the assets we have.

“Dundee has many tenements and we can’t afford to demolish them all – it should be a last resort.

“A poor decision was made, they stuck with it despite the campaign to change their minds, and they are now facing the consequences of that.”

Conversation