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The Courier
29-05-2025
- Business
- The Courier
New council power team to hold on to £1m SNP fighting fund for Angus rebuild
Ousted SNP councillors say they will be 'watching closely' how a million-pound fund to rebuild Angus is used by the group which dumped them from power. The £1 million Angus infrastructure fund was revealed when the council set its budget in February. It was a surprise announcement by the then SNP-led administration. And the fund was the key difference between its budget and opposition proposals. Ex-leader Bill Duff planned to use it to unlock around £20m of extra borrowing capacity. He said it would 'restore basic infrastructure that has suffered from underinvestment and climate-related damage for some time.' Rebuilding Brechin after Storm Babet and combating the threat of coastal erosion at Montrose were given as examples. But it proved to be the SNP's last big move before they lost control of Angus Council. A new multi-party coalition grabbed power in April after securing a vote of no confidence in the ruling group. It is led by one-time stand-in SNP chief George Meechan and Arbroath Conservative Derek Wann. Kirriemuir councillor Mr Meechan confirmed the seven-figure fund will stay in the spending plans. 'The administration group have no plans to change the overall concept of the infrastructure fund,' he said. Former leader Mr Duff said: 'I very much welcome that the incoming administration recognise the value of the innovative infrastructure fund introduced in February's budget by the SNP/Independent administration. 'This offers over £20m of additional capital resource. 'This initial investment will start to address Angus's serious infrastructure requirements. 'Specifically, we were very conscious of the need to spend capital on dealing with the aftermath of Storm Babet and the reconstruction required in Brechin, and the impacts of coastal erosion in Montrose, both impacts of global warming. 'As the public will know, neither the then opposition budget nor the non-aligned budget addressed these two critical issues.' 'We will be watching carefully how this fund is used.'
The Courier
22-04-2025
- Politics
- The Courier
Angus Council SNP administration toppled in no confidence motion
Angus Council is to be led by a new coalition after rebels won a vote of no confidence in the SNP administration. A special meeting of the full council on Tuesday voted 14-13 to remove the nationalist group from power. Kirriemuir and Dean councillor George Meechan will be the new £50,000-a-year council leader. It was his resignation as deputy SNP group leader which triggered the successful coup. Mr Meechan said the 'complexities of various working relationships' in the ruling group had become 'too significant to overcome.' It led to the requisition request for the special meeting. A 13-strong Independent/Conservative/Labour coalition will now form the new administration. Arbroath Conservative Derek Wann will be the council's deputy leader. He said the people of Angus were 'crying out for change'. Mr Wann accused the administration of failing to tackle priority issues including Brechin's recovery from Storm Babet and coastal erosion threatening Montrose. He said: 'Today is not a day we are celebrating. 'From the outset we felt this administration was faltering, focussing on the wrong priorities,' he said. He said a change of SNP group leadership which saw Montrose councillor Bill Duff installed as figurehead following last summer's sudden resignation of predecessor Beth Whiteside had 'accelerated the decline.' Mr Wann added: 'Council priorities based solely on party political affiliation can no longer be the norm, especially when so much is going wrong. 'There will be no more hectoring from the administration,' he said. 'Together I believe we can build a better future for Angus.' But in his final act as council leader, Bill Duff warned his opponents over their 'high risk strategy'. He defended the administration's record, citing the new £66.5 million Monifieth High School campus and Arbroath's Places for Everyone project as major initiatives which are on time and on budget. And he pointed towards an SNP budget infrastructure fund which aims to deliver £20m of Angus investment. 'This administration took responsible, financially competent action,' he said. 'The 13 on the requisition didn't address this at all in their budget. 'Members must be really clear that the decision to vote is only part one of the journey. 'We'll have another special council to negotiate that will give us a mixed administration that may not deliver sound government for Angus.' The crunch meeting took less than half an hour to decide on the change of administration. Another special council meeting will now be set to decide on convenerships and other senior councillor posts. The new administration will comprise:
