A councillor has claimed it may be too late for Dundee City Council to claw back any repair costs from the builders of the crisis-hit Olympia. Opposing groups continue to demands answers as to what has gone wrong at the £31.5 million leisure complex after it was shut suddenly in October 2021.
Council officers have so far declined to explain whether building contractor Balfour Beatty could be liable for some or all of the £6.1m repair bill.
Now the group leader of Dundee Labour, Councillor Kevin Keenan, has claimed any opportunity to recoup cash could be lost.
Mr Keenan said: “The legal status is probably time-barred for a challenge. Things have lapsed that long and it’s unlikely that there is any recourse legally."
And he added: “I suppose in asking it to go back to scrutiny, I think they’re trying to flush out the level of issues that there was around the contractor, issues created within its regime of maintenance, and whether the building and its contents have been well looked after.”
Fellow Labour councillor Georgia Cruickshank says she has also been trying to get answers she can share with the public.
But the Maryfield councillor has stressed she is bound by the code of conduct for councillors which states those elected cannot disclose confidential information without consent.
Asked what she knows that she thinks the public should also know, Ms Cruickshank said: “Well, it’s not for me to say that. I mean I could get myself into hot water, so I wouldn’t be repeating anything (told to her by Roger Mennie, the council’s legal adviser.)
“If something is viewed to be sensitive and is not for public consumption, then we’re legally bound (to say nothing).”
The council’s head of democratic and legal services, Roger Mennie, stated at a recess sub-committee held on Wednesday that the council’s attempts to ascertain liability cannot be discussed “at a public forum.”
At the same meeting, Ms Cruickshank further challenged the legal answer by asking councillors: “Do we not think it’s in the public interest?”
A city council spokesman has since said Mr Mennie will not add anything further to this “now or in the future”.
Ms Cruickshank said she feels it is important to keep pressing the council for answers.
She added: “I remember in the early days when the Olympia first came up, the question was asked if they (the council) would be approaching the contractor if they felt that any of the defects were felt sub-standard to that contract. And there hasn’t been any significant reporting back of that.”
The Olympia project has been referred back to the scrutiny committee, scheduled to meet again on September 28.
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