Issue - meetings

The Council resolved:-

to note the deputations and thank them for their contributions.

(A)          The Council received a deputation from Dr Ishbel Shand in relation to agenda item 11.1 - Energy Transition Zone - Land at St Fittick’s Park & Doonies - CFS/25/171.  

Dr Shand noted that she was speaking at a disadvantage given that the report was not available to the public and the Council was using paragraph 9 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as the reason to exclude the press and public. She feared the report would be nodded through on party political lines and the public would have to resort to Freedom of Information and legal action to find out what happened.

Dr Shand emphasised that elected members had the power, not the Port of Aberdeen, Opportunity North East or Sir Ian Wood. She did not believe that the appropriation of Torry’s green spaces was about combating climate change, creating jobs, benefitting deprived communities or enhancing the biodiversity of a public park; she felt it was a clumsy attempt at “putting lipstick on a pig”.

Dr Shand provided an overview of the history in relation to the matter, with a perceived shifting narrative from providing economic growth to responding to a climate emergency - however the end result was still the same, a land grab. Dr Shand believed that the Port of Aberdeen and ETZ Ltd had persuaded the Council that sacrificing Torry’s green spaces would make Aberdeen the energy capital of Europe, however nobody was champing at the bit to build factories and industrial units on the land in question. She added that the harsh reality was that while other ports in Scotland, like Invergordon and Leith, were preparing for the future, Aberdeen had been desperately trying to maintain the status quo.

Dr Shand highlighted that the city had a lot of highly educated people and they should be involved in the process. She believed that the current plan was scientifically illiterate and depended on massive public subsidies, and that poor outcomes had resulted from a lack of democracy in Aberdeen. Dr Shand emphasised that public scrutiny had been denied and the people responsible had not been held accountable and today’s discussion looked to perpetuate that pattern.

Dr Shand asked the Council to instil its legal team to put in place stringent and enforceable legal protections to protect the public interest and the public purse from exploitation from private interest, and that the officer report and any decisions taken today be made public.

At this juncture, Councillor Allard advised that he had a connection by virtue of being the Council appointed member of the Board of Opportunity North East, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

The Council asked questions of Dr Shand and thanked her for her deputation.

(B)          The Council next received a deputation from Richard Caie, also in relation to agenda item 11.1

Mr Caie advised that he was a resident of Torry, he was retired but volunteered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3