An attempt by opposition councillors to defer a decision to spend more than £1 million on refurbishing offices in the City Square to house environment department staff has been thwarted by the SNP group.
The SNP majority on the city development committee voted in favour of upgrading the offices to accommodate the Clepington Road HQ staff.
The proposal for the £735,000 refurbishment, plus £348,250 for allowances including furniture and professional services, will now see £1,083,250 being spent on the new HQ.
The proposal came in a late item on the agenda at last night’s meeting which Liberal-Democrat councillor Fraser Macpherson described as a “bolt out of the blue” for members of the committee.
Environment convener Craig Melville says it kills off plans for a new £3m environment HQ, which had been proposed for land next to the closed Marchbanks recycling centre.
He said: “There is a spend, but it’s a lot lower than what it would cost to build a new headquarters.”
Moving to defer a decision on the report until the next meeting in two weeks, Mr Macpherson added: “I think that before we go spending another £735,000 we should have some sort of briefing.”
However, development convener Will Dawson’s motion to approve the report was carried by 16 votes to 13.