A LEADING architectural society has pointed the finger of blame at the leader of Glasgow City Council for the fiasco which led to the scrapping of the £15 million overhaul of George Square.
The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), the professional body that ran the design contest, has attacked Gordon Matheson, claiming he was at the heart of a debacle that brought the city into significant disrepute, cost taxpayers £100,000 and architectural practices a further £200,000.
The competition ended with Mr Matheson scrapping the revamp minutes after a winning design was chosen.
It is now scheduled to be part of the inspection of the city council by public spending watchdog Audit Scotland.
The identification of Mr Matheson as playing the pivotal role will add to pressure within the council.
The head of the RIAS, Neil Baxter, was involved in the process and has provided a first-hand account in the organisation's report.
It claims Mr Matheson drove the redesign process throughout, insisted he was chair of the judging panel, usurping the role of the official chairman, deeply resented the winning design –which he considered disrespectful to Glasgow – and rejected RIAS advice on good practice.
The report also claims the council leader temporarily abandoned the judging process, leading to it being lampooned in the media and directly contributed to a "very significant waste of public and private resources".
Details from the damning report come just days after the council unveiled toned-down plans for the redevelopment of George Square, with councillors due to be asked on Thursday to agree to minor improvements worth £500,000.
The major element will be completed post-2014.
The findings from the competition debacle went before the ruling council of RIAS last week and says that, at the first judging session, on January 14, Mr Matheson indicated "that in his view scheme number six [by architect Burns + Nice] was by far the best submission".
On January 21, the judges chose a design by John McAslan as the winner. Mr Matheson's favourite was ranked fourth.
It adds: "At this point, Councillor Matheson indicated that his administration would not be proceeding further with any of the designs."
An RIAS spokesman refused to comment further.
A Glasgow City Council spokesman refused to comment on the criticisms of Mr Matheson. However, he insisted the judging process had been well run, and the winning architect agreed.
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