On 1 April, Glasgow councillors voted not to investigate the alleged fraud of former council leader Steven Purcell.

Purcell was accused of unfairly awarding contracts to prominent Labour donors during his time as head of development and regeneration. But councillors said there was no evidence to justify reviewing the contracts. Purcell has avoided further scrutiny.

However, controversy still surrounds sites linked with his alleged wrongdoing. Next month, the council will reignite the battle to redevelop a site on Buchanan Street, directly opposite Glasgow’s main shopping centre, Buchanan Galleries.

Land Securities (Ravenseft) bought 1.2 acres of the site in December 2009 for £10m from entrepreneur Paul Green. After a 10-year battle by Green to develop the site, the council wants LandSecs to complete a scheme on the site, which comprises shops, offices and 85 flats, by 2013. Next month, the council will try to use compulsory purchase order (CPO) powers to finally begin development of the site.

But one landowner Standard Commercial Property Securities, holding company of pub giant Mitchell & Butlers — has spent the past seven years objecting to development plans for the site. It is supported by Scottish National Party members who seek to attack Purcell’s Labour council ahead of a Glasgow vote to appoint a new leader on 6 May.

Controversy over the Buchanan Street site stretches back to 2003, when a committee headed by Purcell chose Green as the site’s preferred development partner, ahead of a bid from Standard Commercial.

Two landowners were particularly unhappy about the £70m decision, and Standard Commercial took its appeal to the House of Lords.

In 2006, the Law Lords ruled that the decision was fair. Then, when the council was due to hold a CPO in autumn 2009, Green’s company went into administration. By buying Green’s site for £10m

in December, LandSecs also bought the preferred developer rights to benefit from the CPO.

The development looked set to go ahead, but when Purcell resigned last month (see box, right), Standard Commercial’s former PR adviser, Paul Drury, told Property Week he had seen documents that had been modified to alter Green’s financial standing when Purcell’s committee awarded the contract.

Property Week has learned that, after the CPO inquiry in May, Standard Commercial could object with a fresh appeal against the decision based on the new claim, which could further delay the council’s plans for Buchanan Street.

In its previous challenge, Standard Commercial objected to the way the council made the decision and not that it was fraudulent, says a source close to the site, who did not want to be identified. Now, it will be challenging the alleged maladministration.

“That’s what the points from the committee report show,” said the source.

Glasgow City Council said talks between owners and LandSecs were continuing ahead of the May inquiry and it hoped the site would be developed to deadline.

A spokesman for the city council said: “In the process for the selection of a preferred partner for this site, no councillor had any undue influence.”

Scottish National Party MSP John Mason, who called for Audit Scotland and Strathclyde Police to investigate claims against Purcell, said property had been particularly embroiled in the saga.

“Because the big money’s around property and some of the big Labour donors have property links, that’s where the suspicion lies. Everybody’s thinking that every decision the council’s made over the past 10 years is doubtful; I don’t think that for a minute, but any of these [allegations] are potentially huge.”

Nick Davis, development director at LandSecs in charge of the scheme, said he was trying to reach agreement with Standard Commercial before the start of May’s inquiry.

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