AN SNP-RUN council has come under fire after workmen were seen operating at one the authority's key building projects.
The Scottish Government has issued strict guidelines for the construction industry, insisting that only "essential" projects continue amid the Covid-19 lockdown - such as building new hospitals.
Two workmen were spotted working at Edinbugh City Council's Powderhall development site in the north of the capital, despite the restrictions.
The council said the Powderhall location is being used as "a compound site" for the trams project and that contractors were complying with government guidance.
READ MORE: Coronavirus in Scotland: Building sites told to shut down by Nicola Sturgeon
Concerns have been raised over conflicted guidance betweent he UK and Scottish governments for the construction industry.
Miles Briggs, Conservative MSP for the Lothians, said: "There are very strict guidelines in place by the Scottish Government for good reason, to slow down the spread of Coronavirus and allow hospitals to treat people who get Coronavirus.
"National figures released yesterday show the escalation of coronavirus and we are seeing the number of cases rising on a daily basis."
READ MORE: Coronavirus in Scotland: Edinburgh tram works halted
He added: "It is very concerning that Edinburgh City Council are continuing with work on the Powderhall building site, despite national guidance saying not to.
"It has not been helpful to see contradictory messages being developed and for various different protocols such as supermarkets in England being given lists of vulnerable people being asked to shield for twelve weeks but not in Scotland."
A council spokesperson said: "In line with the requirement to put suitable arrangements in place for monitoring the site and site compound’s security and safety a small team has been retained to monitor the existing excavations, as well as essential remedial work where an issue is identified.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel