Agenda item

With reference to Article 15 of the minute of meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee of 13 June 2013, which had been referred to it for consideration by six members of the Committee, the Council had before it (1) a report by the Director of Housing and Environment which provided an update on a way forward for the regeneration of Middlefield as a result of the Haudagain roundabout upgrade; and (2) the decision of the Committee as follows:-

(i)         to note the words of Keith Brown, Minister for Transport and Veterans, who stated in the Scottish Parliament on 22 May “We have stated on a number of occasions our commitment to funding the design and construction of the road improvement, which will include associated land and compensation costs for the delivery of the Haudagain scheme. As was the case with all of our schemes, landowners, including the local authority, will be compensated for any land or property that was required to enable the construction of the road improvement”;

(ii)        to note paragraph 7.1 of the report which stated “There is as yet no detailed information from government on the financial arrangements to be made to purchase assets required to deliver the Haudagain junction improvements” and therefore to instruct officers to enter into negotiations with the Scottish Government within the next 30 days with a  view to agreeing a legally binding contract as soon as possible ensuring the Council and other land owners were suitably and properly compensated for the land or property that was required to enable the construction on the road improvements with a view to starting work on the Haudagain roundabout within the next two years rather than in 2018/2019 as proposed by the SNP;

(iii)       to note with complete disappointment the decision to postpone the arranged meeting between the Council and Transport Scotland on 27 May 2013, and reschedule the meeting until 28 June 2013, a clear sign that the Haudagain roundabout improvements were not a key priority for the Scottish Government;

(iv)       to note the speed in which the Scottish Government were prepared to compensate landowners, including building a brand new International School in Cults, long before the AWPR work had started and questions the Scottish Government’s resolve to fully compensate the people and residents of Middlefield which was the most deprived area of the city in terms of employment, health, income, education and training quickly and efficiently as they did in the most prosperous area of the city; and

(v)        to instruct officers to bring a report to an additional meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee on 25 July 2013 on the meeting with Transport Scotland, including detailed information from the Government on the financial arrangements to be made to purchase assets required to deliver the Haudagain junction improvements and setting out the Council’s objectives to start this project within the next two years.

            DECLARATION OF INTEREST

At this juncture, Councillor Jackie Dunbar declared an interest in the item of business by virtue of being a Middlefield resident and also as a member of the working group referred to in the report. Councillor Jackie Dunbar did not consider that the nature of her interest required her to leave the meeting.

Councillor Young moved, seconded by Councillor Allan:-

            That the decision of the Finance and Resources Committee be approved.

            At this juncture, the Council agreed to suspend Standing Order 3(4)(a) to enable an additional meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee to be held on 25 July 2013 in accordance with resolution (v) above.

Councillor McCaig moved as an amendment, seconded by Councillor Jackie Dunbar:-

            That the Council approve the recommendations contained within the report.

Councillor Yuill moved as a further amendment, seconded by Councillor Delaney:-

            That the Council -

(1)          agree the recommendations contained within the Director of Housing and Environment’s report to the Finance and Resources Committee of 13 June 2013;

(2)          commit itself to work with the Scottish Government and others to achieve the earliest feasible delivery of the Haudagain junction improvements;

(3)          instruct officers to enter into negotiations with the Scottish Government with the objective of speedily securing funding for the construction of replacement housing to ensure that the time required to build that replacement housing does not unnecessarily delay the delivery of the Haudagain junction improvements;

(4)          instruct officers to discuss with the Scottish Government whether the construction of the Third Don Crossing and/or the partial completion of the Western Peripheral Route would provide sufficient relief to make it possible to begin work on the Haudagain junction improvements before the full completion of the Western Peripheral Route; and

(5)          deplore the Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee’s description at the meeting on 13 June of tenants of Middlefield as “irrelevant”.

During the course of summing up, Councillor McCaig withdrew his amendment in favour of the amendment by Councillor Yuill and this was accepted by the Council.

On a division, there voted:-

For the motion  (22)  -  Lord Provost; Depute Provost; and Councillors Allan, Boulton, Carle, Cooney, Donnelly, Lesley Dunbar, Finlayson, Forsyth, Graham, Grant, Ironside, Laing, Lawrence, Malik, Milne, Jean Morrison, Nathan Morrison, Taylor, Thomson and Young.

For the amendment by Councillor Yuill (19)  -  Councillors Blackman, Cameron, Corall, Cormie, Delaney, Dickson, Jackie Dunbar, Greig, Jaffrey, Kiddie, MacGregor, McCaig, May, Noble, Samarai, Jennifer Stewart, Sandy Stuart, Townson and Yuill.

The Council resolved:-

to adopt the motion.

In terms of Standing Order 15(6), Councillors Blackman, Cameron, Corall, Cormie, Delaney, Dickson, Jackie Dunbar, Greig, Jaffrey, Kiddie, MacGregor, McCaig, May, Noble, Samarai, Jennifer Stewart, Sandy Stuart, Townson and Yuill intimated their dissent against the foregoing decision.