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 stated that the referendum had been unfair and his organisation did not accept the result. He added that the whole process had been fundamentally flawed; there had been allegations of voter fraud which undermined the authenticity of the result; information had been omitted from the packs issued to voters; and relentless amounts of money had been spent on advertising by companies that were not registered as campaigning organisations which resulted in a marginal result effectively being bought.

Mr Shepherd was of the opinion that the Council had misled the public and had shown bias in favour of the City Garden Project by allowing the City Gardens Trust to exhibit at Aberdeen Art Gallery without offering other campaigning organisations the same opportunity in the first instance.

Mr Shepherd called on the Council to ignore the result of the referendum and not forward the Independent Counting Officer’s report to the Scottish Government.

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

            (B)       The Council had before it a report by the Chief Executive which presented the Independent Counting Officer’s report on the referendum along with a final account for the spend incurred on the delivery of the poll.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)              note the content of the report; and

(b)              forward the Independent Counting Officer’s report to the Scottish Government for its interest.

The Council asked a number of questions of the Independent Counting Officer in connection with his report and the overall referendum process.

Councillor McCaig moved, seconded by Councillor Malone:-

That the Council approve the recommendations contained within the report and forward the Independent Counting Officer’s report to COSLA for their interest.

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

            That this Council takes no action.

Councillor Ironside moved as a further amendment, seconded by Councillor Young:-

            That this Council resolves -

(i)                 to refer the Independent Counting Officer’s report to the next scheduled Audit and Risk Committee for scrutiny as per the committee’s orders of reference; and

(ii)               to report back to Council on their findings.

In terms of Standing Order 12(9), the Council first divided between the motion and the amendment by Councillor Greig.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion  (31)  -  Lord Provost Peter Stephen; Depute Provost Cormie; and Councillors Blackman, Boulton, Collie, Corall, Cormack, Dean, Dunbar, Donnelly, Fletcher, Hunter, Jaffrey, Kiddie, Leslie, MacGregor, McCaig, McDonald MSP, Malone, May, Milne, Noble, Penny, Reynolds, Robertson, John Stewart, Kevin Stewart MSP, Townson, West, Wisely and Yuill.

For the amendment by Councillor Greig  (2)  -  Councillors Greig and Jennifer Stewart.

Declined to vote  (9)  -  Councillors Adam, Allan, Cooney, Crockett, Farquharson, Graham, Ironside, Laing and Young.

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

For the motion  (30)  -  Lord Provost Peter Stephen; Depute Provost Cormie; and Councillors Blackman, Collie, Corall, Cormack, Dean, Dunbar, Donnelly, Fletcher, Hunter, Jaffrey, Kiddie, Leslie, MacGregor, McCaig, McDonald MSP, Malone, May, Milne, Noble, Penny, Reynolds, Robertson, John Stewart, Kevin Stewart MSP, Townson, West, Wisely and Yuill.

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

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the motion.