Dudhope Castle - Why the rush to sell?

 

Picture of Dudhope Castle from the
Photoplolis website

On Monday evening Dundee City Council's City Development Committee considered a report about disposing of Dudhope Castle.  During the meeting the Executive Director of City Development apologised to the committee for the report reading like it was just about disposing of a surplus property rather than dealing with an important part of Dundee's heritage.

On behalf of the Labour Group I put forward an amendment which would have allowed the Executive Director to rectify his admitted mistake.  The Executive Director also said that it would take at least six months to get to a position to market the property properly.  Disappointingly this policy was still pushed through.

It is is difficult to see what the rush is. It is important that councillors take our role as custodians of the heritage of the city seriously.  

I am aware that the council decided in 2016 to declare Dudhope Castle surplus to requirements but since then the Children and Families Services Department was moved into the castle.  The castle was used as offices until the start of the first lockdown.

 

As well as the City Development Departments budget being wrong every year since 2016 to the tune of £137,000 because this saving was assumed in the budget Dundee City Council  has also spent £810,000 since 2014 on property costs at the Castle, when the castle was handed back to the council from Abertay University around £1 million was spent on it.  Have the people of Dundee got a good deal out of this.

 

I understand that the report tells us that Dudhope Castle is not best suited to being used as offices.  The report also tells us that it could be used as offices in the future.  We better hope any prospective future tenants or owners don’t read council reports.

 

There is a serious issue though.  In the context of the pandemic and life after it are we sure that we have the correct office spaces for the council of the future?  Clearly, more people will work from home but do we think that hot desking is the way forward.  I think that one of the changes that will go forward will be a wish to control infections in the future by giving people more space and making sure that work places are cleaned more regularly.  Whether you think I am right on that or not the question is do the council think that it has considered this enough to know that we can dispose of office space.

 

I would also point out the historic nature of Dudhope Castle.  As a historian I am minded to say that this is not my period but clearly the association with the city of Dundee dating back hundreds of years and the association with Bonnie Dundee in particular are surely worth thinking about.

 

I am calling on the council to contact heritage charities like the National Trust for Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland and others and see if there is a way to develop this castle in a way which showcases its important role in the history of our city and our nation.

 

Essentially, there can be no rush here it has taken five years to get to this point, what is the rush now in a depressed property market?  My amendment sought more information so that the committee could make an informed decision about the future of Dudhope Castle.

It is hugely disappointing that this measure has been pushed through.  I hope that the heritage of our city will not be damaged as a result of this decision made in the face of officers and others saying that there was not enough information in reports that they had written or supported.