Agenda item

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

During consideration of the following article Councillor John West declared an interest in the subject matter of by virtue of being the Master of Mortifications. Councillor John West did not consider it necessary to withdraw from the meeting.

With reference to article 5 of the minute of the meeting of the former Area Committee South of 28 May, 2009, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure which advised of the completion of the academic and scientific work identified in the scoping and feasibility study undertaken by the University of Aberdeen for the development of the South Aberdeen Coastal Regeneration Project (SACRP), and proposed the next steps for the development of the project and sub-projects as linked to existing city initiatives to assist in promoting sustainable economic development and green tourism, and alignment to social regeneration initiatives in Aberdeen and the North East.

The report provided a detailed overview of the aims of the study and provided an update on the current status and proposed a way forward for the following aspects of the study, namely:- Coastal Park, the East Tullos Burn, developing the Marine and Geoscience study centre, the environment of Torry Bay, and the Torry Battery.

Firstly, it was highlighted that a Coastal Park remained as a central development, which could encapsulate most of the other sub-projects, and to a degree, it could be argued that the “Park” as such exists already but needs to be developed to higher levels of landscape, educational use and amenity provision. With regards the development of a ‘Coastal Park’, it was advised proposed that a formal Project Steering Group be established to take forward the implementation of  the Coastal Park itself, along with five identified sub-projects.

Details of the role and proposed membership of the Steering Group were presented as were the following proposed terms of reference for the Group:-

·       The Project Steering Group (PSG) would operate as a high level consultation group, addressing strategic issues and major points of difficulty and ensuring that all other stakeholders were committed to the project;

• The PSG would not have any powers that cut across the project owner’s accountability and authority of the Council’s Finance and Resources Committee as the Investment Decision Maker in this project;
• If a major issue could not be resolved with the Project Owner, PSG members should have recourse through their own structure of governance to the Finance and Resources Committee;
• The cycle of PSG meetings would be agreed to support the main project reporting requirements; and
• Should the PSG agree to make alterations to their remit, these would be included in a future report to the Finance and Resources Committee.

With regards the East Tullos Burn, it was advised that the SACRP Steering Group, with approval from the Council submitted at short notice a bid for future funding via the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), with the active support of the Scottish Government, to develop the Torry Community Wetland Project. However, officers had been advised that the project did not meet the eligibility criteria for funding in the current round of bidding, but the bid could be modified and re-submitted in time for the next submission deadline of September 2010.

Finally, in relation to the development of the Marine and Geoscience Study Centre it was advised that this long-standing commitment was being progressed for a facility at or near Nigg Bay and was regarded as a distinct sub-project within the proposed formation of a Coastal Park. The current design proposal envisaged  the construction of a purpose-built building with educational, community and demonstration functions. It would have field-centre capacity and was deemed to be part of a re-awakening of interest in the Torry Community in its maritime heritage and its future potential.

In summary, the report endorsed the completion of the study undertaken by the University of Aberdeen and recognised that sustainable development and green tourism potential could be achieved once core funding streams could be secured. The information within the report could be regarded as a benchmark to begin the process to assess capital and recurrent costs and to determine the optimal phasing of the subprojects as detailed in the report. It was considered that there was value in engaging with all levels of education and in a wide range of disciplines, some of which were not exclusively environmental in the development of projects and sub-projects that had been identified in the study through the formation of a structured Project Steering Group with a broad interest of stakeholder organisations. It was also importance that further links be developed with the higher education sectors for the benefits that could accrue to schools and their communities.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to note the successful completion of the scoping and feasibility study as endorsed by the SACRP Steering Group at its meeting held on 26 November, 2009, and to record appreciation to all those organisations that provided support and assistance towards the completion of this work as referred to in Section 6.1 of the report;

(ii)        to agree to the creation of a formal, multi-agency Project Steering Group with proposed terms of reference, to re-affirm in principle the implementation of the Nigg Bay Coastal Park as a key project with special reference to the Community Wetlands Project, as set out in the main considerations of the report;

(iii)       to appoint the Vice-Convener, Councillor McCaig, as the Council’s member on the proposed Project Steering Group; 

(iv)       to note the present stage for the development of the Torry Community Wetlands Project in the St. Fitticks Community Park and the on-going need to continue to attract external funding for the implementation of this project;

(v)        to note that a report on the proposed land use issues was to be presented to a future meeting of the Guildry and Mortifications Board as a land owner in the vicinity of the Bay of Nigg;

(vi)       to endorse the present stage with the development of external funding bids for conservation works for the Torry Battery, with a progress report on the identified funding to date to be presented to the June/July cycle of the Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure Committee;

(vii)      to note that at no additional cost to the Council, commitment to some of the outcomes of the study would continue until 31March, 2010 by the University of Aberdeen;  and

(viii)     to request officers to submit a report back to the Committee from the Project Steering Group on the development of the sub-projects for the June/July cycle of the Committee.