Council director ‘chose not to pay ?80000 bill’ for Station Hotel traffic …
The money was part of a larger £744k allocation agreed by councillors to maintain the scaffolding encapsulation of the dilapidated building until next May.
The road over the rail line at Ayr railway station was reduced from two lanes to a single lane for public safety back in 2019.
However, councillors were told that the cost of putting this in place was never settled despite having been ‘requested’,
Mike Newall, deputy chief executive of South Ayrshire Council (SAC), who steps up to the top job when current chief executive Eileen Howat retires next month, said: “Unfortunately, the £80,000 for traffic management provision was requested a number of years ago.
“However, a previous chief officer chose not to pay it. I think the work has been done and we are required to pay for it. That is why there is a request to council for that funding.”
When asked to expand on why an active decision was taken not to pay the bill, a council spokesperson said that it had been an ‘oversight’.
They said: “Due to an oversight by a former member of staff, this was unfortunately overlooked but the payment has been made and the matter is now closed.”
Meanwhile, the conservation group who came in for criticism at last week's special council meeting over a report claiming the building can be saved and restored has responded.
SAVE Britain's Heritage (SAVE) published a report on September 14 - the day before the meeting - claiming that the building is not in as bad a condition as previously believed.
SAVE commissioned specialist engineer Ed Morton to carry out a detailed survey of the building's exterior earlier this year.
Mr Morton's findings prompted SAVE to estimate that rescuing and restoring the entire building would cost £9.2 million - compared to the £6.6 million SAC itself estimates it would cost to demolish the southern section alone, currently clad in scaffolding and protective sheeting.
Council leader Martin Dowey called on SAVE to say where the money would come from to rescue the building.
But SAVE in turn pointed out that SAC has repeatedly said it doesn't have the money to pay for demolition of the southern section - and said the council's position would do nothing to address the state of the northern and central sections.
SAVE director Henrietta Billings said: "Our understanding is that the current demolition strategy being pursued poses significant risks of the land and buildings remaining in the current ownership.
"We believe these risks should be unacceptable to the council. It is our opinion that for any option, steps must be taken immediately to transfer the ownership of the building, either by compulsory purchase or private treaty. Until this takes place the current encapsulation costs will continue unabated.
"It is our opinion that the council should immediately take an "in principle" decision to use CPO powers to strengthen their negotiating position with the current owner and start the process of promoting the order to avoid wasting any further time. In parallel, negotiations should begin with the owner for transfer at nil site value.
"It is for the council to consider how to best pursue recovery of the significant public funds already expended on the building.
"We consider the refurbishment and re-use of Ayr Station Hotel to be a great opportunity to create a worthwhile gateway and start the regeneration of Ayr.