Falkirk Council: Labour councillor pips SNP leader to Forth Freeport boardplace

Labour’s Alan Nimmo narrowly beat the SNP leader of the council, Cecil Meiklejohn, to the position at a recent meeting of Falkirk Council.

Forth Green Freeport – which takes in parts of Grangemouth, Rosyth and Edinburgh – is now in the process of setting up a governance board, which will have its first meeting this Friday.

Members heard that the board will provide “oversight, scrutiny, and senior leadership” to ensure the successful set-up and operation of the new, low tax area.

Of the 12 members, there is one seat each for councillors from Falkirk, Fife and the City of Edinburgh councils.

Falkirk Council’s director of Place Services, Malcolm Bennie, will also have a place as Falkirk is the accountable body for the project.

Board members will also come from businesses involved in the freeport area and an independent chair, Dame Susan Rice, was recently appointed.

The SNP administration put forward Councillor Cecil Meiklejohn, but while she led in the first round of voting, she did not have enough support to take her over the finishing line.

Independent councillor Robert Spears, who worked at the refinery for 30 years, got only two votes and Conservative James Bundy, who grew up in the town, got five.

In a second round of voting, Councillor Nimmo won by 13 votes to 12 and was duly appointed.

Speaking to his nomination, Mr Nimmo said he had “a wealth of experience and knowledge” as a councillor and before that a civil servant for 28 years, including nine years as a trade union branch secretary.

He said: “In Grangemouth, there’s going to be a lot of upheaval with this being brought forward, but I can see a lot of benefits for the people locally and that’s something we need to embrace.”

Speaking after he had been appointed, he said he had concerns that the board is made up “predominantly of big business people”, such as Forth Ports and Ineos.

“We need to try and protect the people of Falkirk and Grangemouth as best we can. There has been a lot of jobs promised but whether that materialises in the numbers they were talking about is another matter.”

He is also concerned that there does not seem to be any national trade union involvement, although there will be a staff representative.

“You have to remember why this is being set up – it’s basically a tax dodge, so these companies can make more profits,” he said.

Independent councillor Brian McCabe told the meeting that he “fundamentally disagrees with Freeports”.

He said: “I don’t believe they serve the best interest of the local communities and I just want to put on record that I am totally against their creation.”