Blogger back in business, so - as reported in today's 'Courier' - I have had useful discussions with the administrators of the former Duncarse Riverside Ltd in respect of the former Homebase site. Here's my News Release from yesterday on the subject :
"Dundee City Councillor for the West End, Cllr Fraser Macpherson, said today that he had had constructive discussions with the administrators of the former Homebase site on Riverside Drive, following concerns about public safety around the site. There have been a number of incidents of concern on the temporary pathway around the site including an assault and robbery on it, and residents have described the pathway as unsafe, claustrophobic and a public danger.
Cllr Macpherson revealed that he had been in talks with PricewaterhouseCoopers, the administrators of the former owners of the site – Duncarse Riverside Ltd – about the possibility of the perimeter hoardings being moved to allow for the restoration of the original far more ‘open’ and safer pathway to the south of the site to be restored, pending the site being sold and construction work commencing at some point in the future.
Cllr Macpherson said, “Although there are issues about how any works would be funded and this is yet to be resolved, I do have to say that the administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers do appear anxious to find a solution to this and view, in principle, restoration of the original pathway as a sensible thing to do.
“Discussions will continue later this week and I am pleased that we are at last making some progress on this problem.”
Cllr Macpherson said that the possibility of graffiti removal at the site had also been discussed. He added, “The graffiti is pretty awful and no advertisement for the city for those arriving by train or along Riverside Drive by car – it would be good to see this mess cleaned away as soon as possible.”