Agenda item

This report was deferred at the Council meeting of 1 October 2025

With reference to Article 10 of the minute of its meeting of 1           October 2025, the Council had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Data Insights which presented the Council with an Annual Review Report which highlighted progress with respect to the Council Delivery Plan 2024-25.

The report recommended:-

that the Council note the report and provide comments and observations.

Councillor Allard moved, seconded by the Depute Provost:-

          That the Council note the report.

Councillor Malik moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor Grant:-

          That the Council -

(1)       note the report;

(2)       congratulate all those involved in Union Terrace Gardens winning the Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award which is coordinated by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland;

(3)       agree this ambitious public-realm regeneration project has revived Aberdeen’s key public space, reclaiming Union Terrace Garden as the city’s green, civic heart. The project delivers extensive landscape and engineering work, enriched with conservation elements including the sensitively restored statues, railings, arcade arches, and subterranean Victorian toilets - now proudly reinstated and open to the public via the operator of the Union Street pavilion; and

(4)       agree as a result, Union Terrace Gardens is now a landmark cultural and inclusive destination that demonstrates the power of contextual, people-centred design in transforming a city’s sense of place.

At this juncture, Councillor Crockett advised that he had a connection in relation to the item as the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland had been mentioned and he was an honorary member, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Brooks advised that he had a connection in relation to the item as the temporary Chair of an anti-poverty charity, however having applied the objective test he did not consider that he had an interest and would not be withdrawing from the meeting.

Councillor Brooks moved as a further amendment, seconded by Councillor Farquhar:-

          That the Council:-

(1)       notes that Huq Signals footfall data has been used to measure unique visitors to the city between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024, which showed an increase of 3.1%;

(2)       further notes that the Huq data for Aberdeen City Centre includes data from Union Square;

(3)       notes that during 2024, Union Square reported its best year on year growth with a sharp rise in footfall;

(4)       agrees that this suggests that the use of Huq data to denote city centre increase in footfall is misleading when visitors to the heart of Aberdeen, Union Street, are visibly less;

(5)       notes that the Council Delivery Plan Annual Review Report 2024-25 is both retrospective (3.4) and indicative of the next 12 months (3.6);

(6)       notes that, with reference to Union Street, the report is confusing, as the number of empty units remains high and on 31^st May 2025 Aberdeen Inspired reported that Union Street footfall had decreased by 2%; and

(7)       to avoid further confusion in footfall reporting for Aberdeen City Centre, instructs the Chief Officer - City Development and Regeneration to provide a service update in Spring 2026 with all city centre footfall without the inclusion of Union Square.

During the course of summing up, Councillor Brooks advised that Councillor Malik was willing to incorporate his amendment within his own amendment. Councillor Allard advised that he was willing to incorporate Councillor Malik’s original amendment within the motion, but not the wording of Councillor Brooks’ amendment. The Council noted that both of these changes were accepted.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion   (23)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost; and Councillors Al-Samarai, Allard, Alphonse, Buchanan, Hazel Cameron, Clark, Cooke, Copland, Cormie, Davidson, Fairfull, Greig, Henrickson, Hutchison, MacGregor, McLellan, McRae, Mennie, Radley, van Sweeden and Yuill.

For the amendment   (19)  -  Councillors Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Boulton, Brooks, Crockett, Farquhar, Grant, Houghton, Kusznir, Lawrence, Macdonald, McLeod, Malik, Massey, Nicoll, Thomson, Tissera and Watson.

Absent from the division  (2)  -  Councillors Cross and Graham.

The Council resolved:-

(i)             to adopt the motion as amended;

(ii)           to request that future reports include (a) clearer comparator data with regard to housing and homelessness targets; (b) data on performance in relation to the turnaround of planning applications; and (c) clarity on the Council’s statutory requirements with regard to service standards;

(iii)          to note that the Chief Officer - Children’s Social Work and Family Support would confirm to Councillor Nicoll the number of care experienced children and young people who had a pathway plan by the age of 15 (page 44 of the report); and

(iv)          to note that the Executive Director - Families and Communities would share a link to the Housing Emergency Action Plan with Councillor Nicoll which contained revised targets in areas such as re-letting of properties and related narrative.