Another councillor blamed for road overspend

5:16pm Friday 25th April 2008

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A SECOND cabinet member at Darlington Borough Council has been targeted for criticism over a £1.9m overspend on a new road project.

An inquiry report published this week revealed that the authority mismanaged the Eastern Transport Corridor scheme from the beginning by failing to include crucial costs in the original estimate, and bungling the contract with the construction firm.

The current Labour portfolio holder for transport, Coun David Lyonette, has been lambasted by opposition councillors for his role in managing the scheme.

Liberal Democrat members now have their sights set on his predecessor - Coun Nick Wallis, who was in charge of transport until he was moved to health and leisure in August last year.

Coun Martin Swainston, the leader of the Lib Dem group, said Coun Wallis had outlined his vision for the scheme on his personal website.

"It's very clear that Coun Wallis was responsible for this project - he says as much on his own blog," said Coun Swainston.

"I am wondering if these problems were already known and if that was why he was moved from this brief. It was a position he had held for several years.

"Maybe the cabinet knew about the overspend early on and that is why there was this re-jigging."

In a diary entry on Coun Wallis's webpage he is pictured in the cab of a JCB when work began on the site in February last year.

He writes: "Pictures of councillors in diggers at the start of building projects are the cliched staples of the local press.

"Still, I have to confess I felt a real buzz when I got behind the wheel of this monster.

"Give me a chequered shirt and a utility belt and I am Bob the Builder."

On his re-appointment as the cabinet member for transport in May, he wrote: "I have to say I'm delighted - the coming 12 months will see several key projects come to fruition, notably the Eastern Transport Corridor.

"Overseeing the completion date and budget will be a key task.

"All in all it should be an exciting year."

He was moved from the post three months later, but Coun Wallis said last night that the switch was not related to the overspend.

"The idea that I was moved on from the post because of the problems with the Eastern Transport Corridor is baloney," he said.

"This is gutter politics from the Lib Dems.

"If I had not been up to my cabinet brief I wouldn't have remained in the cabinet."

The findings of the £22,000 consultants' report will be discussed at a meeting of the resources scrutiny committee on May 1.