I have always been sceptical about Highland and Island Enterprise (HIE)’s funicular court cases going ahead because of what further it might reveal about their incompetence. But those court cases (see here) may be the price the Scottish Government has exacted for picking up the cost (c£26m?) of the funicular repairs
There was an interesting articleon the court cases in the Press and Journal last week which illustrated the double bind HIE may be in (see here).
On the one hand HIE are chasing money, over £11.5m apparently, from Galliford Try who took over Morrisons, the original construction company. That, however, is significantly less than the actual cost of repair
On the other hand, the P&J article reveals that HIE “didn’t become aware of the problems until 2015”. Even if this claim is true and HIE were blissfully unaware of the design flaws until 2015, it has a number of important implications.
- Aware that there problems with the funicular, why did anyone in HIE think it sensible to proceed with the corporate vandalism that was the destruction of the Ciste and West Wall Chairlifts… which left the business completely unable to function when the Funicular failed in 2018.
- Aware there were problems with the funicular, what measures did HIE put in place to protect the safety of the public apart from the annual surveys by ADAC structures? And were the problems reported to the various bodies responsible for railway safety?
- Aware there were problems with the funicular, why didn’t HIE fix them immediately rather than wait three years until forced to do so? To what extent did the problems become more serious and the repair costs increase as a result of this delay?
- Aware there were problems with the funicular, what discussions about this took place with the operator Natural Retreats and what attempt was made to renegotiate the contract with them? NR did not have the experience to manage Cairn Gorm and should never have been appointed, but it was not their fault they were handed a business whose income had become dependant on a duff asset. That surely must impact on the financial guarantees NR gave HIE which are the subject of another court case.
HIE are so obsessed with the Funicular that they were quite prepared to destroy the Ciste and West Wall Chairlifts to make sure that all future business would be directed to Coire Cas and the Funicular. They did that when it was becoming ever more clear that the Funicular was in trouble and these 2 chairlifts would have enabled the business to keep trading meaningfully. HIE also knew that the chairlifts could have been refurbished because a report about the condition of the Ciste Chairlift and the cost of refurbishment had previously been established by Swiss company , Rowema. The cost to the public purse was then significantly greater than it would have been if the chairlifts had been refurbished. How much more evidence does Ivan McKee MSP, the minister with responsibility for HIE, need to have to understand that they are not fit to manage the hill business. He needs to be speaking to the Directors of the Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust to establish their terms for taking over the management of the CairnGorm Estate and the hill business.
The ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of this saga will, most likely, never be resolved: but unlike most Norse sagas which end with the baddies being slaughtered and the Gods even more heroic than before it all kicked off, I don’t see there are any gods in this charade and butchering an incompetent HIE & Scot.Govt. maybe too extreme!
However, Sturgeon’s cabal must be found accountable: this is a land version of the ferries contracts where, when errors and perhaps corruption or just plain incompetence are found, the decision-makers exit stage quicker than an avalanche down the West Wall!