Issue - meetings

Item 10.2 (Revocation of Anderson Drive corridor and Wellington Road Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) and Amendment of City Centre AQMA) – Elizabeth Leslie, Joan Thomas and Graeme Craib

Item 11.2 (Future Operation of Controlled Parking Zones Y and YY (Garthdee and Kaimhill) – Andrew Murray, Garthdee Community Council

These will be recorded in full in the minute.

(A)      DEPUTATION IN RESPECT OF ITEM 10.2 – REVOCATION OF ANDERSON DRIVE CORRIDOR AND WELLINGTON ROAD AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT AREAS (AQMAs) AND AMENDMENT OF CITY CENTRE AQMA – ELIZABETH LESLIE

The Committee received a deputation from Ms Elizabeth Leslie in respect of the above item.  Ms Leslie was accompanied by Joan Thomas and Graeme Craib.  Ms Leslie advised that they were in attendance to put forward observations and ask some questions as to what was driving the changes in Aberdeen that she stated no one was voting for.  She began by stating that it was not possible to separate bus gates from the Low Emission Zone (LEZ), as their outcomes were similar.  A count taken on 15 October 2024 from Great Western Road to the east end of Union Street had indicated 39 empty stores, with 2 in liquidation and the construction at Union Terrace Gardens still for lease.  She added that only two cyclists were observed during this time, noting that with the Council's push for active travel, there were unregulated e-bikes, too numerous to count, which were entirely utilised commercially for food deliveries.

Ms Leslie stated that Aberdeen’s small businesses felt unheard in terms of their imposed trade predicament, adding that they had their proposed deputation to the 11 June 2024 Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee deemed to be incompetent.  She added that there was a disproportionate emphasis against private vehicles, noting that the recommendations in a report to Council on 11 October 2024 spoke of the safe and efficient movement of active travel and public transport users throughout the city.  She asked why cars were not mentioned.

Ms Leslie noted that the United Nations Environmental Programme said that  stakeholders might need to kickstart a walking and cycling policy in a city, to help local authorities to prioritise walking and cycling, and find out what steps needed to be taken to ensure that cities prioritised people over cars. She added that neither the Council nor the Scottish Government had coined the phrase ‘active travel’, and that it had been given to them.  She stated that the UN Environmental Programme quote helped to understand why Councils around the world were utilising the exact same words and phraseology, such as ‘active travel’, ‘wheeling’, ‘stakeholders’, ‘15 minute cities’, ‘diversity’, ‘equity’ and ‘inclusion, and why Aberdeen City Council felt justified in prioritising pedestrians, bikes and wheeling over cars.  Ms Leslie added that the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) global action plan on physical activity was implementing unasked for national policies to ensure safer roads for cycling and walking.  She stated that while Aberdeen citizens voted for Councillors to represent them, what they were getting instead was a one size fits all approach from the United Nations and its WHO agency, using local Councils as proxies to impose their agenda, regardless of actual need.   Ms Leslie felt that such external influencers should take a walk down Union Street to witness the damage caused by their no private car ownership and active travel policies.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2