Councils are often damned when they do and damned when they don’t.
When they fail to act in the knowledge there is a potential problem, they receive pelters – especially when things do go wrong.
And when they do take the bull by the horns to prevent a potentially dangerous situation, they can find themselves accused of creating a bureaucractic mountain out of a mole hill.
In Broughty Ferry, just such a row has flared up after a small number of householders were left facing huge bills for repairs to a dangerous wall which backs on to a major public road.
That the work needs to be done is not in question. The potential effects of a wall collapsing on to a public pavement and road are obvious.
Dundee City Council is doing the right thing in having the repairs taken forward.
But in a time of financial crisis, we trust the authority is willing to listen to residents’ concerns over the size of the bills they are facing – and to work with them individually to reach a suitable resolution.
By adopting a fair and just approach, the council can show it is not the faceless and heartless institution some believe it to be.