Building blocks of public trust

Apparently, Legoland Holiday Village in Billund, Denmark, offers guests a “Be Happy” pass to make their stay in the themed family resort even better.

It is doubtful a box-load of passes would have kept Aberdeenshire Council co-leader Martin Kitts-Hayes happy when he arrived at the world-famous resort at the head of a council delegation.

They were supposed to be attending a North Sea jobs conference, but within two hours all three members were heading home. Councillor Kitts-Hayes walked out after dismissing his Wild West-themed cabin as unsuitable for his needs – and likening it to “Butlins in the 1970s”. This might be an unnecessarily harsh assessment of both organisations, as far as their loyal followers are concerned, but the whole affair prompted a 76-page council investigation – amid calls for Councillor Kitts-Hayes to stand down.

The report, seen by The Press and Journal, makes uneasy reading for the council and public alike. There are elements of farce about the report, but what is no laughing matter is the fact that Aberdeenshire taxpayers’ money was wasted and that Councillor Kitts-Hayes did not think the public needed to know what had gone on.

To think that the public would not find out sounds more like living in cloud cuckoo land than Legoland. How the council and Councillor Kitts-Hayes now react is critical.

When public money and public confidence are embroiled in such matters, the very building blocks of trust are affected.

“The report, seen by The Press and Journal, makes uneasy reading for the council”