One side in the long-running battle over an Angus superschool has been “vindicated,” it has been claimed.
Former leader of Angus Council Bob Myles spoke to The Courier a day after the resignation of Angus councillor Ewan Smith from the SNP.
The surprising development now means the SNP has lost its 15-14 majority in the halls of power.
The former Angus Alliance and the SNP had long been at odds over plans for a multi-million-pound school in Arbroath. Councillor Myles claimed a sea change in political opinion would push for a superschool after all.
Mr Smith was also “applauded” for his decision from other quarters.
Mr Myles said: “One thing I will say is that on the school thing we’ve obviously been proved right, because the senior members of the administration are now on board with what we were proposing all along.
“I do feel vindicated. It’s easy to oppose things when you’re in opposition because you don’t have to deliver, but the administration is now in a position where they have to move forward.
“It never made economic or practical sense, the stance he took. It’s just a shame it’s taken two and a half years we could have had the school built by now.”
A meeting of the education committee is set to discuss the issue on March 7.
Although its itinerary has not yet been made public, there have been suggestions Mr Smith’s resignation was based on its contents perhaps that the superschool proposal is a live and recommended option once again.
It is still unclear what consequences the resignation may have for the authority going forward, but Mr Smith said the decision was one he had to take on a point of principle.
Of whether the delicate balance of power in Angus Council chambers will be affected, Mr Myles added that “there is no doubt as they no longer have a full majority”.
He was at the head of an Angus Alliance administration that grappled with the SNP on many major issues, but he would not say whether a change in circumstances leaves the door open for the Alliance’s resurrection.
He said: “We in the Alliance tried to encourage everyone to work together and the SNP didn’t want any part of it.
“Now Team Angus has seen the administration ask for cooperation, which has worked out fine if everyone is behind what they want.”
Previous Angus Alliance member David May “applauded” Mr Smith for leaving a paid post and being “a man of principle.”
“I think Ewan Smith has obviously looked to his conscience on the basis of what he stood for when he was elected, and he found that will not be delivered in practice,” he said.
“I applaud him for being his own man. He will not only be leaving the administration he is leaving his paid post as vice-convener of education, and that shows he is a man of principle.”
Mr Smith was elected in May after leading a campaign against the £8 million scheme to replace Muirfield and Timmergreens with a school at Hospitalfield.
As a key figure in the Muirfield Parents Action Group, Mr Smith was instrumental in pinpointing several flaws in the proposal of the then Angus Alliance coalition that led to its downfall.
Councillors voted the plans through, but the merger was killed off by the Scottish Government after the matter was called in.