SCOTTISH Labour will today call for an independent audit into the sale of land originally purchased for the cancelled Glasgow Airport Rail Link (Garl).
The Herald revealed in September that the Scottish Government had sold the final plot of land, which had initially been bought for the project, back to its original owner at an £800,000 loss. Figures subsequently disclosed in parliament revealed that the total cost to the taxpayer of axing Garl was £30 million, including £8m spent on land and compensation costs.
The project, originally overseen by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, was intended to directly connect Glasgow Airport to Glasgow Central station with a rail link via Paisley.
However, it was scrapped by the Scottish Government in 2009.
Scottish Labour's Infrastructure spokesman James Kelly said: "We asked for a Ministerial statement on the Garl land transactions because it's very clear that there has been a lack of accountability at best and at worst a complete lack of competency in making the decisions to sell-off the land required for the rail link.
"However (Transport Minister) Keith Brown has washed his hands of the debacle and is happy to blame officials for the shocking loss of public money in selling off the land. It's time for him to own up and tell us why he either allowed this to happen or wasn't aware of what was going on, the only way to do that is to allow the books to be opened for independent scrutiny."
It comes a month after Renfrewshire Council called on Audit Scotland to scrutinise the Garl land deals.
Council Leader Mark Macmillan said the sales had been "hasty and ill-judged".
However, the call is likely to be dismissed by the Scottish Government, which has denied any wrongdoing. In previous statements, spokespeople said Ministers were "obliged to dispose" of the sites as quickly as possible.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Government is not permitted to hold onto surplus land and speculate on the market."
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