A war of words has broken out after a Montrose councillor was accused of making a false allegation in a regeneration row.
Councillor Paul Valentine spoke out after he and SNP colleague Sandy West were accused of not supporting the council’s decision to produce the south Montrose draft development master plan, which backers say could attract £100 million of investment to Angus and create up to 500 jobs.
The plans came under public scrutiny at the George Hotel last week, and Montrose councillor Mark Salmond hit out at Mr Valentine and Mr West after visiting the consultation event (link).
He said: ”What alarms me is that the south Montrose master plan would not have been carried out if the Angus SNP had got their way.”
Mr Salmond also called on Mr West and Mr Valentine to now support the council decision to produce the master plan.
Those comments have now been challenged by Mr Valentine, who said he believes the forthcoming elections might be behind Mr Salmond’s outburst.
Mr Valentine rejected the claim he and Mr West have never been supportive of the regeneration of Montrose and spoke of his disappointment at Mr Salmond’s comments.
Mr Valentine said: ”What a pity Councillor Salmond used a good news story for Montrose about seeking public backing for the regeneration plans to make a political swipe at Sandy and myself.
”Sandy (Mr West) and I have always supported Montrose Port, and any proposals which help regenerate this area should be investigated further so it is important as many members of the public view the proposals.
”However, Councillor Salmond needs to be consistent when making accusations, as it is only a couple of years ago his Angus Alliance buddies were claiming Sandy and I had done a U-turn over the matter.
”While realising the need to address the issues raised in a study of the area by forming a master plan, our objection at the time related to the administration’s request to spend over £60,000 on an outside consultant for another study we felt could be duplication because a study had been carried out only two years beforehand, and, we believed, our own council officers were more than capable of adequately carrying out.”
He added: ”Sandy and I, together with our SNP colleagues, felt it was important to look at alternative capital options with this money if it was no longer earmarked for improving the A935 such as flood prevention.
”Two years on, sadly, we are now witnessing some projects being funded by raiding other departmental pots, even dipping into the council’s contingency fund.
”Councillor Salmond’s false accusation that Sandy and I have been unsupportive of the Montrose master plan is disappointing, but with local elections only months away, this may be the real reason for his comments.”
The draft development master plan for the port and harbour area has been put together by consultants Ironside Farrar on behalf of partners Angus Council, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Montrose Port Authority, Scottish Enterprise, Tayside and Central Scotland Transport Partnership (TACTRAN), WJ Reid, Carrs Fertilisers, Piggins & Rix and Housebuilders Montrose (link).
The deadline for consultation responses is Friday, October 28.