Labour councillor blasts SNP administration after £1.16m spent on harbour project without any work carried out

A furious Labour councillor has hit out at the “incompetent” SNP administration for what they claim is a lack of progress on the sprawling new harbourside development and says questions have to be asked.

Labour uncovered figures that reveal £1.16m has been spent on the project so far, without a single piece of work taking place.

But council leader Marie Burns has blasted back, saying she refused to take part in “petty politics” and that work is getting under way next month.

Programme costs across the three phases have been £483,780.96.

The biggest expenditure within that field has been £262,733.94 on consultancy for the Coastal Hub development.

That was followed by £183,220 for consultancy on the Outline Business Case and Masterplan.

Consultancy on the Beach Pavilion Feasibility Study set them back £13,818 and legal advice cost £12,946.22.

Irvine South Cllr Robert Foster said: “There are serious questions to be asked to the SNP council leader Marie Burns about how over £1m of public money can be spent and not a single piece of work has been undertaken to actually improve the harbourside in Irvine.

“Every major building project in North Ayrshire is either behind schedule or massively more expensive due to the incompetence of this SNP administration but how they can expect local people to let them away with squandering over a million pounds before anyone has seen a single shovel anywhere near this project just goes to show how arrogant Cllr Marie Burns and her Cabinet are, that they think they can waste so much public money and get away with it. It is mind boggling.”

Cllr Burns said: “I’m not surprised that Councillor Foster turns a positive story into a negative and uses it to make a personal attack on a fellow councillor. Irvine Great Harbour is part of the wider Ayrshire Growth Deal which will see £250m invested across all three Ayrshire councils.

“The business case for Irvine harbour, including the cost, was signed off by the previous Labour leader in June 2021 and their own report the following year acknowledged that there would probably be delays due to the aftermath of Covid and rising costs.

“When the SNP took over in 2022, we took responsibility for the Great Harbour project and I’m pleased to say that work on the site will begin next month. Following a public consultation, we agreed to start with the play park at the request of the local community.

“This is good news so, as I’ve said before, I’m not playing petty politics with Labour councillors.

“That’s what puts people off politics and politicians and we have too much to do to help and support our residents to indulge in petty squabbling.”