Not enough questions have been asked about the report stating flood defences at Dundee’s under-construction East End Community Campus “worked as expected”.
Photos prove the site flooded badly during Storm Babet.
Surely there is more clarity needed from the structural engineers?
Surely they can assure Dundee there will be further flood protection measures put in, or they are reassessing having seen the effects of Babet?
There must have been investigations of the site and its surroundings by hydrologists, who also examined the flooding history and considered future dangers.
Seeing the foundations of a £100 million project under floodwater and saying “that’s what we expected” seemed very incomplete.
However, the most telling line in the newspaper report was: “Dundee City Council declined to comment.”
No thoughts at all on a £100m investment? That should make every Dundonian shake their head in disbelief.
‘Leadership failure’
This is what should have happened.
The council leader should have been alerted to this media inquiry before taking control.
“I will look into this personally” or “I’ll question the appropriate people and report back to alleviate concerns” should have been the message.
But, at least publicly, there has been nothing from John.
This latest example of an inability to take decisive action and hesitancy to communicate shows, again, the biggest failing of Dundee City Council during John’s reign: leadership.
Or lack of it.
When confronted with a difficult situation, John hides. When the fire alarms scandal emerged, he was invisible.
Then there was the Olympia farce, where he embarrassed himself with his nothing-to-see-here attempts to ignore it, before being shamed into an inquiry – though there was by then no other option.
Even then, the probe will only cover the most recent closure of the Dundee centre rather than the general saga.
Should we be surprised that when a big question arises over the new school the response is “declined to comment”?
‘Keyboard warriors…’
John reminds me of a junior marketing exec, always off to obscure conferences “pushing Dundee’s agenda” (whatever that means).
But you aren’t a sales rep, John, you are the equivalent of a CEO in a big firm.
You won’t know this, because you’ve never had what I would call a real job, but what chief executives and business owners do is lead.
When a firm faces a tough challenge the leader is seen by all to take control and state: “This is what needs done – and these are the changes needed to do it.”
If a £100m building does flood, the buck stops with you.
For all your peenges about keyboard warriors and people not understanding you, John, this is the reality.
If you didn’t understand that you shouldn’t have put yourself forward for the job of leader.
You could avoid that by being able to say: “I asked tough questions at the build stage.”
But you haven’t asked tough questions.
If you have, for some inexplicable reason you’ve kept them secret.
You must speak up on this issue – or a flood of problems could be coming down the road.
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