Agenda item

(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 as a walk leader of Social Walks in Torry - they walked every Friday morning around the bay and St Fittick’s Park in particular. He added that it was a beautiful area, with a number of paths and trails and it was teeming with wildlife - the thought of the area being concreted over was absolutely terrible.

Mr Caie stated that the group had recently met with a group of indigenous people from Peru, known as Wampis, who had been touring the UK. They had lunch with them and walked round the park together and realised that they shared a great deal of commonality - the Wampis’ forests were being destroyed by miners, road infrastructure was being built and so on. He noted the similarities with St Fittick’s Park in terms of outside interests and land being offered up to big business ahead of the interests of the local community.

Mr Caie advised that the Council had recently published a report which outlined the benefits of green spaces - it was well known that green spaces provided tremendous benefits to people in terms of health and wellbeing. He noted that three-quarters of the respondents to the report asked for parks to be more wild, not manicured spaces such as Duthie Park. He emphasised that St Fittick’s Park was a wild space, however it was only 10 minutes from the city centre and he believed no other city would industrialise such a space. Mr Caie considered that the city had enough industrial space already, some of which was currently lying empty. He noted that things were done to Torry; not with Torry.

Mr Caie highlighted that elected members were in charge of planning - the new harbour had been planned for many years, however only now were efforts being made to improve the Coast Road, although even more heavy goods vehicles would be going through Torry due to works at the railway bridge. He concluded that it was not too late for the Council to change its mind about leasing St Fittick’s Park - areas being removed from the Local Development Plan was not without precedent. He invited elected members to visit the area and join one of the weekly walks.

At this juncture, Councillor Yuill advised that he had a connection by virtue of being a distant relative of Mr Caie, 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 Mr Caie and thanked him for his deputation.

(C)          Lastly, the Council received a deputation from Scott Herrett, also in relation to agenda item 11.1.

Mr Herrett advised that he lived and worked in Torry as a Just Transition Organiser for Friends of the Earth Scotland, and his role was to make sure communities were at the heart of decision making, particularly in Aberdeen away from the oil and gas industry.

Mr Herrett stated that he did not know what he was speaking to given that there was a shroud of secrecy surrounding the report. He referred to the vote at the start of the meeting and could not understand why it appeared to be along party political lines and questioned the motivations of elected members. He stressed that any decision about St Fittick’s Park should be made in public - there was no consent to the proposals in Torry and he considered that the very foundations of democracy had been eroded.

Mr Herrett emphasised that the proposals were completely unsuitable for the space at St Fittick’s Park, particularly with regard to flooding, and questioned whether there was any evidence regarding jobs and how they would be delivered - he noted that there was certainly no evidence in the public realm.

Mr Herrett concluded by reading a poem about St Fittick’s Park which had been composed by a writer following interviews with a number of people involved in the campaign.

At this juncture, Councillors Yuill and Thomson advised that they had a connection by reason of their membership of Friends of the Earth Scotland, however having applied the objective test they did not consider that they had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Blake advised that she had a connection as a member and volunteer with Aberdeen Climate Action, however having applied the objective test she did not consider that she had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

The Council asked questions of Mr Herrett and thanked him for his deputation.