Anger as Angus plots path to recovery

Angus Council chiefs will push ahead with key infrastructure projects to boost the local economy as it recovers after lockdown.

Administration group leaders want to accelerate work to extend the A90 into Montrose, establish a railhead in the town and bring forward school improvement projects.

Parking charges will also remain on hold as the council’s leading group tries to support local businesses reeling from the effects of lockdown.

The county’s opposition SNP group has attacked the administration for formulating its revival plan at a meeting to which non-administration councillors and council officials were not invited.

Council leader David Fairweather, an independent, said traditional council finances and priorities had been “turned on their head”.

The finance convener, Conservative councillor Angus MacMillan Douglas, said extra funding meant “councils will have a small amount of leeway to stimulate growth”.

He added: “We have an opportunity and the will to make sure Angus not only stays open for business, but is as vibrant and welcoming as ever.”.

As the administration councillors held the first virtual meeting of its economic recovery group, they promised “all options are on the table” to safeguard Angus.

Lynne Devine, SNP group leader, said it was not an official council group and was not supported by any council officials.

“In our communities partnership and cooperation are the watchwords, so it is concerning and baffling that the administration hasn’t followed suit and invited nonadministration councillors,” she said.

Montrose councillor Bill Duff, SNP, said: “This project offers benefits to Montrose and Brechin and will encourage economic activity in north Angus and provide suitable roads to carry heavy trucks north and south.”

Independent councillor Brian Boyd, a long-term opponent of parking charges in the county, said: “It is good to see the administration considering how they will move forward with the car parking fiasco implemented by themselves two years ago.”