| The council has sold a plot to an as-yet-unnamed company, which will in turn develop the site and lease it to the Driving Standards Agency.
That lease deal will need to be agreed before building work starts and the DSA was reluctant to discuss the matter.
The multi-purpose test centre (MPTC) is one of several being built across the country to comply with new legislation.
The council has for some time been locked in talks with the DSA and prospective developers over the provision of land after the Government brought in new rules on motorcycle tests.
A city council spokesperson said, “Land at Dunsinane has been sold to a third party, who would become the landlord for the Driving Standards Agency.”
The news will be welcomed by prospective motorcyclists in Dundee, who might have faced a trip to an MPTC in Edinburgh or Aberdeen.
Doug Barker, director of training at GMTS Rider Training which has centres in Dundee and Perth, warned that the delay over agreeing the land deal meant the new legislation would be in place for more than six months before the centre is up and running.
“Basically the motorcycle test is changing and it now requires a very large area of tarmac for all the manoeuvres that have been added.
“Because there has been such a hold up, it means people are going to have to go to Edinburgh or Inverness because they are the only MPTCs ready for the legislation.
“The best-case scenario is there will not be a new test centre in Dundee till next spring.”
Mr Barker, who has been an instructor for the past 20 years, believes the new legislation will actually cause more injuries and possibly deaths.
“I don’t even like the new test, I think it completely misses the trick, and we have no option but to use the new MPTCs for tests.
“Will it improve road safety? I don’t think it will, and the delays will mean there will be more people having accidents, more people dying and the availability of training and tests is being reduced.
“I would add, though, that when Dundee does get its MPTC it will become a centre of excellence.”
However, when the Tele spoke to the DSA, the organisation was keen to stress that final arrangements for the new centre had not yet been finalised.
A DSA spokesperson said, “It is not the case that a lease has been signed for land in Dundee and we are not yet sure about the future.” |
