Council confident Whitesands flood scheme is on firm legal ground

A council has said it is confident of its legal position after concerns were raised about land being used for a £68m flood protection scheme.

Dumfries and Galloway Council (DGC) said it wanted to "set out the facts" about the use of common good land - owned by the local authority for the benefit of the community - as part of the project.

It comes after calls for greater transparency after it was found to have "failed at the most basic level" in its response to freedom of information (FOI) requests about the scheme.

The council said it had taken legal advice and was confident that tackling the flood risk in the area was "consistent with its duty to protect and advance the common good".

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Earlier this year, the man behind the FOI requests told the BBC he believed there had been a "catalogue of errors" in the handling of the scheme.

Mike Sutherland said the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 required the council to seek court approval to use common good land before work got under way.

He asked for information about the use of common good land and whether it had petitioned the courts for a change of use.

His call was backed by Conservative MSP Craig Hoy who urged the council to answer questions about the scheme "fully, openly and transparently".

The council has now said it was "neither appropriating nor disposing of the land" and would continue to manage it on behalf of the community.

"The land will remain in council ownership and continue to be held as common good land throughout the project and after completion," it said.

"Following completion of the works, it will remain within the public realm and retain its status as open public space."

It said that, in 2014, the council's common good sub-committee had approved the use of the land for the scheme and that legal advice was that it had acted appropriately.

"Where common good land is involved, the Whitesands Project will help protect, improve and safeguard it for future generations," it said.

"The council considers that addressing the long-standing risk of flooding is consistent with its duty to protect and advance the common good."

It added that it also intended to work towards tackling recent criticism from the Scottish Information Commissioner abouts its responses to FOI requests about the project.

"In response to the commissioner's decisions, we have now carried out additional searches for information and issued our responses to the relevant requester," it said.

"We will continue to co-operate with the commissioner's requirements."

It added that it realised people had "different views" about the project but it would continue to provide "clear and accurate information" about the work and what it would deliver for people and businesses in the town.

Town's £68m flood scheme cleared to progress