Agenda, decisions and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be located here.

Please note that if any changes are made to this minute at the point of approval, these will be outlined in the subsequent minute and this document will not be retrospectively altered.

There were no declarations of interest nor transparency statements made.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 17 November 2022 for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       in relation to Councillor Blake’s transparency statement at article 1, to note that her husband was employed at NatureScot, rather than NatureScotland;

(ii)       in relation to article 2 (Committee Business Planner), item x(ii), to note that officers would confirm to Members when the South College Street service update would be circulated; and

(iii)      to otherwise approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the planner of committee business as prepared by the Interim Chief Officer – Governance.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to request that officers provide explanations for the acronyms used in the planner for future meetings;

(ii)       to note that the business planner was under regular review and that further business in relation to Net Zero could be expected at future meetings;

(iii)      to remove item 4 (Bus Partnership Grants) as the quarterly updates would not require any decisions and would therefore be provided in future as service updates;

(iv)      to remove item 7 (Various Small Scale Traffic Management Stage 2) as there had been no objections received and therefore there was no report to Committee;

(v)      to note the reason provided in the planner for the delay to item 7 (Flood Risk Management Strategies) and that the report would now be presented to the March 2023 meeting;

(vi)      to note that the Road Safety Plan 2023-2027 (item 12) would now be presented to the March 2023 meeting due to problems with accessing the data which it was expected would be resolved for the next meeting;

(vii)     to note the reason provided in the planner for the delay to item 13 (Building Performance Criteria – Energy Efficiency);

(viii)    in relation to item 45 (Energy Transition Zone Training and Jobs Plan), to note that officers were working with Opportunity North East, NESCOL and Skills Development Scotland on the jobs plan and training and would update the planner with a date for when the report back could be expected;

(ix)      in relation to item 51 (Fly Tipping, Littering and Dog Fouling), to note that the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning would liaise with the Chief Officer – Early Intervention and Community Empowerment to ascertain when the report back could be expected; and

(x)      to otherwise note the planner.

With reference to article 3 of the meeting of the Operational Delivery Committee of 9 June 2022, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which had been prepared in response to the Notice of Motion moved by Councillor Greig:-

To instruct the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services to report to the June 2022 meeting of the Operational Delivery Committee to seek a decision on revoking the Aberdeen City Council (Queens Lane South Aberdeen) (Prohibition of Waiting) Order 2021.

The report presented the outcome of the letter drop undertaken to residents in the local area in relation to the Aberdeen City Council (Queens Lane South, Aberdeen) (Prohibition of Waiting) Order 2021, detailing the results of any representations which had been received and any actions to be taken.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(i)       note the result of the consultation; and

(ii)       agree to retain the current lengths of waiting restrictions on Queen’s Lane South.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which sought approval to explore funding for the continuation of the Denburn Restoration project.  The report advised that a Denburn Restoration feasibility study had been undertaken in 2018, prior to the work being put on hold as a result of COVID-19.  It was proposed that the feasibility study be progressed to obtain revised costings; to prioritise and re-evaluate the scope of the works to minimise maintenance and delivery costs; and to deliver the Denburn restoration.  Funding for the full capital costs of the project was to be obtained using external sources.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      agree that the principles of the Denburn Restoration project would improve biodiversity and increase people’s connection to nature via active travel, and in turn this would improve health and wellbeing for people, whilst taking steps to towards tackling twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change;

(b)      approve the continuation of the Denburn Restoration project subject to external funding being obtained to deliver the project; and

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning, following consultation with the Chief Officer - Operations and Protective Services, to explore opportunities for external funding to cover the costs of delivering the project and report back to committee on 7 March on next steps.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers would circulate the estimated costs for the different phases of the project to Members outwith the meeting;

(ii)       to note that due to the timing of the report, it had not been possible to consult with Local Members but that officers had provided assurance that this would not happen in future; and

(iii)      to otherwise approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an update  on  the  performance  of  Aberdeen  City  Council’s Roads   Maintenance    and   Roadworks   Coordination   teams   following   the publication  of  the  annual   performance   report  by  the  Scottish  Roadworks Commissioner.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the contents of the Roads Commissioner’s report, dated 26 May 2022 (as set out in Appendix 1 to the report).

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers would highlight to the Scottish Roadworks Commissioner that Members would find it helpful to have more explanation of acronyms and terminology in next year’s report in respect of the primary indicators table (page 67 of the report pack); and

(ii)       to otherwise note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which presented the annual report of the Northern Roads Collaboration Joint Committee, approved at that Committee on 25 June 2021.  The report also included a further stock-taking exercise which had been carried out by the Northern Roads Collaboration Officer Group.  It had been recommended at the Joint Committee that the annual report be presented to the relevant committee within each local authority.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the annual report from the Northern Roads Collaboration Joint Committee as attached at Appendix 1;

(b)      note the stock taking exercise which was carried out by the Northern Roads Collaboration Officer Group as attached at Appendix 2; and

(c)      note the continued role of Aberdeen City Council in the Northern Roads Collaboration Joint Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       in relation to section 4.4. of the report (future reports for the Northern Roads Collaboration Joint Committee) to note that there were no cycling reports listed and that officers would raise this at the next meeting of the Northern Roads Collaboration Officer Group; and

(ii)       to approve the recommendations.

-          COUNCILLOR IAN YUILL, Convener