Former Aberdeen councillor feels 'vindicated' by repairs investigation

A former councillor has said he feels "vindicated" following an investigation into a £200,000 repair order involving land owned by his father.

The Wellington Brae project in Aberdeen was to be funded by cycling charity Sustrans but work was halted as it did not have proper committee approval.

Former councillor Willie Young denied any wrongdoing, and said he had been wrongly identified as the owner.

A council report has said specific staff could not be held accountable.

Willie Young lost his seat

Mr Young, the city's former finance convener who lost his seat at the local government elections, said he felt "vindicated" by the investigation, adding: "I never owned the wall".

The work involved repairs to a boundary wall beside the cycle path in the Ferryhill area of the city.

Sustrans, a publicly funded charity, awarded just over £21,000 for preliminary work, with the full funding to be paid when the work was completed.

But the project was suspended earlier this year when a political row blew up over who owned the land and how the work had been authorised.

Aberdeen City Council previously admitted the project did not follow the required governance procedures and was not presented for committee approval.

The report said: "Whilst the failure to report to committee is undoubtedly a serious matter, it has not been possible to obtain sufficient evidence which would allow specific officer(s) to be held accountable for any inaction or negligence.

"There was a lack of effective project governance.

"At no point was it determined which team owned the project, or which individual was ultimately responsible.

"There is no record kept of what actions were taken and why."

The report will be discussed by the council's Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee next Tuesday.

The wall has since been rebuilt.