A CITY council leader has defended the decision to scrap plans for a redesign of one of Scotland's biggest public spaces.
Gordon Matheson has insisted he was right to listen to the views of the public who were up in arms at the plan for George Square in Glasgow.
Earlier this week, it was revealed Mr Matheson has been reported to the Standards Commission over his handling of a £15 million design competition for the square. He is accused of misconduct and interfering in a legally binding procurement process, improper bias, attempted staff coercion and of trying to steer the contest in favour of his preferred design.
The SNP group on the city council has now asked the council's internal audit department to investigate.
A letter from group leader Graeme Hendry says: "There are very serious concerns over the competition, not least the question of whether or not the leader of the council attempted to coerce council officers during a procurement competition and whether he has broken procurement law as a result of his actions during the competition."
Mr Matheson announced the planned redesign of George Square was being scrapped just minutes after a scheme by Glasgow architect John McAslan was announced the winner by a panel of judges.
However, he denied any wrongdoing and refused to apologise for any aspect of the design competition.
He said: "I completely refute any suggestion that EU procurement law was not followed fully in this process. The council decided there was no consensus in favour of a radical redesign of George Square but that only became apparent once the six designs were known."
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