Agenda item

(A)       In terms of Standing Order 10(2), the Council received a deputation from Mr Mike Shepherd of Friends of Union Terrace Gardens.

Mr Shepherd advised that Friends of Union Terrace Gardens had voted to support the proposed referendum on the future of Union Terrace Gardens at its Annual General Meeting in October but stressed that a referendum had to be run fairly and both sides would have to accept the result. Mr Shepherd stated that he was against the idea of an opinion poll, instead of a referendum, as the vast majority of citizens would feel disenfranchised as their opinion would not be asked for. Mr Shepherd concluded by asking for land issues to be clarified before any referendum took place and called for fairness in terms of a limitation on expenditure on publicity by campaigning organisations.

Members asked questions of Mr Shepherd and thanked him for his contribution.

            (B)       The Council then received a deputation from Mrs Dorothy Bothwell.

Mrs Bothwell stated that, in principle, a referendum was the obvious way forward, however she stressed that it had to be fairly run and expressed reservations that the result could not be legally binding, fearing that a vote to reject the City Garden Project could still be overturned, as had been the case with the result of the public consultation. Mrs Bothwell intimated that the consultation period on the referendum question had been insufficient and called on the Council to thank Sir Ian Wood for his generous offer but refuse it and take the matter no further.

Members asked questions of Mrs Bothwell and thanked her for her contribution.

            (C)       The Council next received a deputation from Mr David Henderson.

Mr Henderson gave credit to Sir Ian Wood for his very generous offer but pleaded for the process to be community led. He echoed Mr Shepherd’s comments regarding opinion polls and the need for a limitation on expenditure by campaigning organisations emphasising the need for a level playing field. Mr Henderson added that he hoped that a compromise could be still found and appealed to the Council in such terms.

Members asked questions of Mr Henderson and thanked him for his contribution.

            (D)       The Council next received a deputation from Ms Jennifer Craw of Aberdeen City Gardens Trust, who was accompanied by Ms Lavina Massie, a Director of Aberdeen City Gardens Trust.

Ms Craw summarised the aims of Aberdeen City Gardens Trust in relation to the City Garden Project, and emphasised that it would be the catalyst for regeneration in the city centre, with private sector funding helping to unlock public sector funding for a number of different projects. She added that Aberdeen City Gardens Trust and Sir Ian Wood had always underlined that the project needed the support of the public, and of the Council, and hoped that a referendum would demonstrate this. Ms Craw suggested that the referendum question should be on the basis of voting for or against the City Garden Project.

Members asked questions of Ms Craw and thanked her for her contribution.

            (E)       With reference to Article 6 of the minute of meeting of the Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure Committee of 15^th November 2011, the Council had before it (1) a report by the Director of Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure which sought to obtain a decision on whether the Council wanted to undertake a referendum or an opinion poll to judge the level of public support for the City Garden Project; and (2) an updated report (OCE/11/017) by the Chief Executive, with revised recommendations as outlined below.

The report by the Chief Executive recommended:-

that should the Council decide to hold a referendum as a means of gauging public opinion with regard to the proposed City Garden Project, the Council -

(a)              accept the offer by Sir Ian Wood on behalf of the Wood Family Trust of 80% of the costs of the referendum up to a total of £200,000 payable by the Trust, subject to the terms of the offer to the Council being agreed by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services;

(b)              agree the appointment of Crawford Langley as independent Counting Officer responsible for the delivery of the referendum; and

(c)               note the draft Notice of Referendum, as appended to the report, to be published as soon as possible following the Council’s decision.

Councillor Dean moved, seconded by Councillor Kevin Stewart MSP:-

            That the Council:

(a)          agree to hold a public referendum, in accordance with section 5.7(i) - (xxi) of the previous report to the Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure Committee, which must not prejudice the Council’s future planning and fiduciary responsibilities;

(b)          approve the recommendations contained within the report by the Chief Executive;

(c)          instruct officers to continue all efforts to obtain the balance of the required funding from any other available source;

(d)          allocate up to £50,000 from the Council’s contingency budget to meet the costs not covered by (b) and (c) above; and

(e)          agree that the referendum question be as printed in the draft Notice of Referendum in the report by the Chief Executive.

Councillor Greig moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor Jennifer Stewart:-

That the Council does not contribute any funding towards the cost of the referendum.

Councillor Crockett moved as a further amendment, seconded by Councillor Cooney:-

That the Council agrees to hold neither a public referendum nor an opinion poll recognising that the appropriate democratic way to gauge popular opinion should be through the electoral process in May 2012.

In terms of Standing Order 12(9), the Depute Provost accepted advice from officers that the amendment by Councillor Crockett implied mere negation of a decision, and therefore would require to be considered against the motion, before any possible consideration of the amendment by Councillor Greig.

On a division between the motion and the amendment by Councillor Crockett, there voted:-

For the motion  (26)  -  Councillors Boulton, Corall, Cormack, Dean, Donnelly, Dunbar, Jaffrey, Kiddie, Leslie, MacGregor, McCaig, McDonald MSP, Malone, May, Milne, Noble, Penny, Reynolds, Robertson, Kevin Stewart MSP, Wendy Stuart, Townson, John West, Kirsty West, Wisely and Yuill.

For the amendment by Councillor Crockett  (13)  -  Councillors Adam, Allan, Collie, Cooney, Crockett, Farquharson, Graham, Greig, Hunter, Ironside, Laing, Jennifer Stewart and Young.

Declined to vote  (1)  -  Depute Provost Cormie.

The Council then divided between the motion and the amendment by Councillor Greig.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion  (27)  -  Depute Provost Cormie; and Councillors Boulton, Corall, Cormack, Dean, Donnelly, Dunbar, Jaffrey, Kiddie, Leslie, MacGregor, McCaig, McDonald MSP, Malone, May, Milne, Noble, Penny, Reynolds, Robertson, Kevin Stewart MSP, Wendy Stuart, Townson, John West, Kirsty West, Wisely and Yuill.

For the amendment by Councillor Greig  (12)  -  Councillors Adam, Allan, Collie, Cooney, Crockett, Graham, Greig, Hunter, Ironside, Laing, Jennifer Stewart and Young.

Declined to vote  (1)  -  Councillor Farquharson.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the motion.