Council Archives - Page 10 of 62

Council Pushes Ahead With Peterculter Tree Felling

Aberdeen City, Environment, Featured 9 Responses »

Jun 302016

By Peterculter resident, Diane McKay.

A whole belt of healthy well-established trees is being cut down in Peterculter. This work was planned for August, but is happening today, now.

It has been very difficult to get any answers from the council: they told me this morning that some residents have complained of falling branches.

But surely this doesn’t necessitate the destruction of the whole belt.

I only moved to the area late last year. The main reason we bought the house was because of the beautiful majestic backdrop of mature pines.

Back in March, fifty-two local residents received a letter from Alasdair Wilson at the council, saying they were considering taking the trees down. It offered options either to remove them, remove some of them, or to leave them. I responded, stating that I would prefer it if the trees were left alone, because they enrich the area, support wildlife and also provide a windbreak for the houses.

I received no acknowledgement. I emailed again to check if my response had been received. Again, I received no answer. I tried phoning Mr Wilson, using a number I was given from the main Council office, but no answer. I tried half a dozen more times, then tried the Council again. They gave me the same number again and said they would contact Mr Wilson and tell him I was trying to reach him. Again, nothing.

Then on the 31st of May we got a second letter saying there had been only thirteen responses, with seven in favour of retaining the trees, a slight majority, and that they would be felling them all, with work starting mid- to end August. I emailed back, also contacting the local community council, and three local councillors, asking them to reconsider.

Then on Monday morning out of the blue we awoke to the sound of chainsaws. At this point I had not been given any reason whatsoever for the trees being felled. I then received a short email from Mr Wilson, saying:

“It is assumed that the silent majority have no strong opinion and are happy for us to continue.”

He gave his mobile number, so I was able to contact him at last and express my dismay. He said they had time to do the job just now, so were going ahead.

He said that in the past some properties had been damaged by falling branches. I asked him if the trees could just be monitored and maintained and he told me it was too late because the trees had not been properly maintained previously. He told me the number I had been given twice by Council staff was obsolete and just reaches an empty office.

I contacted the RSPB, who said they recommend felling after mid- to end August, as originally planned, to avoid disturbing nests.

I then heard back from Councillor Marie Boulton, who said that some residents in the retirement houses on the other side of the tree belt felt their houses were dark and damp, and that they felt threatened when returning home at night. More street lighting had been put in, but according to Councillor Boulton they still felt threatened, and felt ‘unsafe’ sitting out in the communal areas.

There are twelve of these houses for elderly people, so even if all six responses in favour of felling came from those houses, then that is still only half of them. The trees are at the bottom of a slope, so the roots probably absorb huge amounts of water. It is therefore possible the houses may become damper with the trees gone. Also, there are other communal areas away from the trees for people to sit outside.

Apart from my own view that the trees should stay, I believe the Council has handled the situation extremely badly, by not supplying information or explaining or justifying what they were doing; in fact, by not answering queries at all until after the felling had begun. It also seems pointless asking residents for their opinion if they then go ahead and do whatever they want.

The council has told me that any trees with nests will be left temporarily, but I believe the noise and destruction of adjoining trees will cause birds to abandon their nests.

There was a local ‘consultation’ with most responses being in favour of keeping the trees, but the council have gone ahead anyway. There are few enough trees in the city as it is. With the construction of the bypass, and all the house building locally, we need to be protecting trees, not destroying even more.

There are plans to replant the area, which is at least some consolation (to future generations anyway).

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Whistle Blowing At Aberdeen City Council

Aberdeen City, Events, Opinion 43 Responses »

May 192016

By Scott Shaw.

I was the longstanding Insurance Officer at Aberdeen City Council and had held that position for nearly 17 years. My main duties were the running of a small insurance section which handled all the councils insurance claims such as pavement slips/trips, road pothole claims, council motor fleet accident claims, fire and employers liability claims etc.

Part of my duties also involved liaising with council insurers over insurance issues/covers which also involved insurance tender work at 5 yearly intervals. I am a fully qualified associate of the Institute of Risk management.

During March 2012 I had very good reason for believing that wrongful activity was occurring on a key insurance policy used to insure the high value art collections of Aberdeen Art Gallery and this activity had been longstanding.

The value of the Art Gallery collections are huge and at March 2012 was £240 Million. I blew the whistle, which is more accurately defined as making a public interest disclosure under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. I was suspended immediately after doing so.

The wrongs concerned key insurance covers.

The disclosure activated the Councils Whistle Blowing Charter which fell under the responsibility of the former Head of Legal & Democratic Services and a formal investigation was conducted by the Councils internal auditors, Price Waterhouse Coopers.

I met with PWC on 25th June 2012 at PWC’s Aberdeen office where I presented further evidence regarding the wrongful conduct of the underwriting unit of the Councils insurers, Zurich Municipal.

The concern I raised was that a letter from the underwriters, in response to my request for clarification, presented information which was (to put it mildly) inconsistent with the terms of the actual active insurance policy in that it sought to reassure that theft was not limited to ‘forcible or violent entry to or exit from the premises’.

No such assurance is apparent in the pertinent section of the actual policy.

My suspension lasted an entire year which is incredible to say the least and at the end of that year I was dismissed and handed a PWC investigative report, the contents of which I considered to be inaccurate and in parts unfounded. This report was then used by the Council at Tribunal Court in Aberdeen where I firmly believe it misled a court and denied me fair judicial hearing.

The report was unfairly weighted against me and included what I consider to be inaccuracies with regard to the content of emails and time events. The most worrying aspect however, was the omission of the aforementioned letter from the underwriter, despite this having been examined by the report writer, which was key to my case.

The writer of the report was also allowed to destroy all the supporting e-mail documents he alleged to have examined in his report (thus removing an audit trail) which contravenes documentation retention surrounding fraud / whistle blowing investigations.

It has taken me literally thousands of hours and extensive use of the Freedom of Information statute to validate the disclosure and to expose the activities of PWC with regard to this matter. The covering up of wrongs is highlighted itself as being wrongful activity under the Protected Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

Based on all the evidence I have gathered and studied, it is apparent to me that, for decades, Aberdeen City Council had been diddled out of fire insurance cover on what is effectively the largest fire insurance risk north of Edinburgh.

If that was not bad enough this activity went right around the UK with Councils up and down the Country not having fire insurance cover on their high value art collections.

The FOI returns I have show that over 95% of UK Councils had inadequate fire cover.

There were other wrongs on the arrangement dating back to 2003 including wrongful activity in relation to specific covers including the important theft cover.

It took me over 2 years to produce a 160 page investigative report into the matter which validated the disclosure and on 9th November 2015 this report was presented to the Chief Executive Officer of Aberdeen City Council and the Deputy Provost who sits on the Councils Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee.

In late December I had managed to arrange a meeting to discuss the report and during this meeting (which included Councils Head of Legal ) the Deputy Provost suggested the Police should be notified due to the nature and historic matters concerning the insurance arrangement.

The months ticked by and after several prods and chase-ups, I received a nine line e-mail from the Council’s Legal Head and a four line letter from the Councils Chief Executive Officer declaring their satisfaction with the insurance arrangement and the Price Waterhouse Coopers report – this outcome being contrary to discussions at the meeting of 20th December 2015.

I have now taken the matter up with the head of complaints at the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants (Cipfa) who are the professional body of the PWC Senior Manager (who carried out the PWC investigation/report) and also the CEO of Aberdeen City Council. For any interested reader, Cipfa publish the findings of misconduct/ethics hearings on their web page which is www.Cipfa.org

A recent Freedom of Information enquiry I sent to all 32 Scottish Councils indicates that for PIDA whistle blowing cases in local government approx 70% find no wrongs.

It is my firm belief that this figure is far too high and likely to be due to extensive nullification/turning a blind eye/cover ups of said disclosures.

I have presented my case to members of the Scottish Parliament and requested that the Scottish Parliament look at the matter. This they failed to do back in 2013 when a Public Petition was raised in the Scottish Parliament specifically concerning possible cover ups of whistle blowing disclosures. This petition can be seen on www.scottish.parliament.uk under PE01488.

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[Aberdeen Voice accepts and welcomes contributions from all sides/angles pertaining to any issue. Views and opinions expressed in any article are entirely those of the writer/contributor, and inclusion in our publication does not constitute support or endorsement of these by Aberdeen Voice as an organisation or any of its team members.]

Martin Ford To Ewan Wallace

Aberdeenshire, Environment No Responses »

May 032016

Shire Council Withdraws Charities’ Rates Relief

Aberdeenshire, Opinion No Responses »

Apr 292016

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Keith Marley (right) finds a home for ‘Jock’ the marmoset.

By Keith Marley.

Well done Aberdeenshire Council! Today, what little assistance you give to local charities was withdrawn. Today you implemented the changes governing charity shops which gave them a ‘discretionary’ 20% relief on their rates. Dated 20/04/16, the letter we received today informed us that as from 01/04/16 charity shops will no longer receive the discretionary 20% discretionary ‘top up’.

For the 30 charity shops in the Aberdeenshire Council area this means the council will raise an additional £32,650.00 in revenue from these good causes.

This was agreed by the Councils Policy and Resources committee last year at a meeting which also approved the previous year’s totals for expenditure and financing of £147,876,000 and £66,648,000. The same meeting which gave the nod to approve the purchase of winter salt supplies for the next 3 years totalling some £8,000,000.00.

But obviously charity shops and the charities they support have been scrutinised and obviously found to be not paying their fair share.

With 3 shops and a store The New Arc represents almost 10% of this additional revenue….or as we see it, ‘penalty’. The fact that the charity gets calls from various council departments seeking advice and practical help with wildlife and domestic pets doesn’t cost the council anything. The work placements we provide for school leavers doesn’t cost the council anything.

The assistance we give with council funded projects, back to work schemes, mental health schemes, young (and old) offenders, disadvantaged kids, college placements, school talks etc. doesn’t cost the council anything.

The fact that these 30 charity shops mainly occupy what would otherwise be long term empty buildings DOES provide money to the regional council. The fact that these shops pay the full rate for their insurance, water rates, rubbish bins, electricity just the same as any other business DOES provide income to the local economy.

The fact that some of these shops also employ staff, full time and part time DOES mean we are contributing to the local economy. The fact that these shops are in many cases a necessity for low income and unemployed families DOES make a difference.

Many of these shops run at a very low profit margin and along with the new minimum wage, provision of pension schemes and these additional costs their future may well be in doubt.

The closure of any of these charity shops means a knock on effect which will have repercussions on the charity itself meaning withdrawal of services, reduced capacity, and ultimately it is the council itself that will have to find the funds to provide the services which charities currently do for free.

False economy?

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Grant Cash ‘In The Bag’ For Brighter Bucksburn

Aberdeenshire, Environment No Responses »

Feb 292016

By Rhonda Reekie.

Brighter Bucksburn are delighted to announce that we have been chosen as a recipient of the Tesco’s Bags of Help Grant Scheme.

A scheme to help communities improve their local areas using money raised from the purchase of the 5p carrier bags.

Our project along with two other successful applicants in the region will go forward to a public vote in local Tesco’s stores with the customers deciding the outcome.

The project with the highest vote will receive £12000, the second £10000 and the third £8000. The vote will take place in stores from the 27th Feb until the 6th March 2016

Brighter Bucksburn was set up last year by members of Bucksburn and Newhills Community Council, The Beacon Gardening Club and local residents working alongside Aberdeen City Council to improve the area.

Already we have created a small apple and pear orchard, installed new planters and with the help of local schoolchildren planted loads of spring bulbs. We just recently came first in the Eco City award winning £1000 in prize money.

The Bags of Help grant money will go towards improving the Auchmill Nature Walk. This is a 1km path that runs between Auchmill Road and the train line from Bucksburn to the Haudagain roundabout.

After 35 years it is sadly neglected, overgrown, flooded in areas and underused.

We plan in conjunction with Aberdeen City Council to drain the flooded areas creating a wildlife pond, repair the path, cut back the overgrowth, plant more trees to attract red squirrels and reduce noise pollution from the road and plant more native species of shrubs and flowers.

We will also improve signage, install seats and bins and create a leaflet to tell you what flora and fauna you can see on the walk.

In the meantime don’t forget to vote for us at your local Tesco’s soon, £8000 is already a fabulous amount but we could obviously do so much more with the higher amounts!

If anybody wants to join the group or help then contact myself at rhonda.reekie@btinternet.com or message us on the Brighter Bucksburn Facebook group or page sites.

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Council To Improve Meeting Greenhouse Gas Targets

Aberdeenshire, Environment No Responses »

Feb 292016

Aberdeenshire Green Councillor, Martin Ford.

With thanks to Martin Ford.

In 2007, Aberdeenshire Council set itself ambitious targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions – but the Council has not yet managed to achieve consistent year-on-year reductions in the amount of carbon dioxide generated by its activities.

“The Council must do better at meeting targets to cut its carbon emissions,” said Cllr Martin Ford. “And make cutting emissions a higher priority. That means a new approach is needed to when and where the Council takes its decisions about how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Aberdeenshire’s Democratic Independent and Green Group (DIGG) councillors – Martin Ford and Paul Johnston – secured agreement last summer that the Council’s new administration would support improvements to decision making about reducing carbon emissions.

The DIGG councillors then wrote to Aberdeenshire Council’s co-leaders last September making a specific proposal that the Council sets a carbon budget each year – detailing how and where it aims to reduce its carbon emissions – and that the carbon budget is agreed by the full council at the meeting which decides the Council’s revenue and capital budgets for the year ahead.

The Council’s co-leaders have now written to Cllr Ford and Cllr Johnston indicating their administration’s support for the DIGG carbon budgeting proposal.

A report from officers on carbon budgeting is now expected at the 10 March Aberdeenshire Council full council meeting.

Cllr Paul Johnston said:

“We are very pleased the administration has agreed with us about the need to improve governance and decision making in respect of the Council’s duty to cut its carbon emissions. The Council has challenging and ambitious targets to meet and it is important every councillor is involved in the decisions needed to deliver on those.”

Cllr Martin Ford said:

“Aberdeenshire Council agrees its overall financial plans for the year ahead on budget day in February each year – the revenue budget, capital plan and housing revenue account budget. But there should really be a fourth budget decided alongside the ‘money budgets’ – the Council’s plans for reducing its carbon emissions resulting from its various activities.

“The carbon budget is interlinked with the money budgets because some measures to reduce carbon emissions will incur capital costs, but also deliver revenue savings. So all the budgets ought to be considered at the same meeting and be consistent with each other.”

Aberdeenshire Council, like all Scottish councils, is required by the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 to exercise its functions ‘in the way best calculated to contribute to delivery of the Act’s emission reduction targets’. At the climate change conference in Paris late last year, 196 countries agreed to ‘hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels’.

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All-Party Backing For Shire Council Budget Process

Articles No Responses »

Feb 192016

With thanks to Martin Ford.

A reformed budget setting process for Aberdeenshire Council was formally agreed at last Thursday’s full council meeting. The new approach to deciding the authority’s annual revenue budget was first proposed last year by Democratic Independent and Green Group (DIGG) councillors Martin Ford and Paul Johnston, who wrote to the Council’s other political groups in March 2015.

“We want to see draft budget proposals coming forward from the various political groups in the autumn so there can be proper public consultation and cross-party dialogue and negotiation before the budget is set in February,” said Cllr Martin Ford.

“This allows for much more scope for public input into budget decisions and creates opportunities for cross-party agreement and sharing of ideas.”

During the 11 February full council meeting, the DIGG plan attracted cross-party support and was praised by Council co-leader Cllr Richard Thomson. The officers’ report on Aberdeenshire’s 2016/17 revenue budget recommended that budget proposals for 2017/18 are initially reported to the full council next autumn, in line with the process put forward by the DIGG.

In his speech to the 11 February meeting, proposing the 2016/17 revenue budget, Cllr Martin Kitts-Hayes said:

“Linked to the importance of a budget consultation exercise is the early discussion on future years’ budget proposals. Therefore I propose that all groups prepare draft budget proposals and report these to Council in autumn.”

Said Cllr Paul Johnston:

“I welcome the cross-party agreement on this important reform. Ultimately, we believe this new budget process will lead to better budgets and more say for Aberdeenshire residents on these key decisions.”

In acordance with their own proposed budget process, the DIGG presented detailed draft proposals for Aberdeenshire’s 2016/17 revenue budget to the November 2015 Aberdeenshire full council meeting.

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Shire Schools Plans Raised At Education Committee

Aberdeenshire, News No Responses »

Feb 112016

With thanks to Martin Ford.

East Garioch councillor Martin Ford has welcomed progress towards improvements in school accommodation in the ward he represents.

Item 9 on the agenda at Aberdeenshire Council’s Education, Learning and Leisure Committee last Thursday (4 February) was an update on the Council’s Learning Estates Strategy.

During discussion of the Learning Estates Strategy report, Cllr Ford raised issues relating to local school accommodation including at Newmachar, Kintore, Blackburn and Hatton of Fintray.

Included in the learning estates project plan for 2016 is a Newmachar primary school option appraisal. Said Cllr Ford:

“House building is on-going in Newmachar and planning permissions for housing are in place on sites at Kingseat and on the east side of Newmachar – so the Council does need to move forward with planning for additional capacity at Newmachar.”

Land is reserved for a second primary school in Newmachar within the Newmachar East mixed-use development site.

Cllr Ford welcomed the reported good progress Morrison Construction are making with building the new Kintore Midmill School.

He said:

“After the long delay in getting started, it’s obviously excellent that the actual building work is getting on so well. The new school building is now clearly visible from a number of locations in Kintore.”

On the site choice for the replacement building for the current Kinellar School, Cllr Ford said:

“The choice between rebuilding on the present school site or continuing to try to acquire the replacement school site identified in the local development plan is not an easy decision. There are advantages and disadvantages with both options. Neither choice is risk free.

“On balance, the certainty that comes with the Council already owning the current school site is probably a decisive advantage. But the site identified for the new school in the local development plan is larger and moving the school to it would free up the present school site, potentially for other community facilities. The present site is smaller than ideal for the larger school needed.

“Also, there may be other planning applications for the site allocated in the local development plan for the new school if it is not used for that purpose.”

Cllr Ford raised concerns about the accommodation at Hatton of Fintray School. The Council’s rating of the overall suitability of the Hatton of Fintray school building is ‘C’ (= ‘poor – showing major problems and/or not operating optimally’). Cllr Ford said:

“Hatton of Fintray School Association has contacted the Council in particular about the lack of proper office facilities in the school for the head teacher and administrator, and suggested a way forward. I hope the Council will be able to respond positively.”

Cllr Ford also questioned officers about overall school roll forecasts for Aberdeenshire, which show continuing roll increases are expected in many areas.

“We have become used to ever-rising school rolls in much of Aberdeenshire,” said Cllr Ford.

“The forecasts predict that to continue. But will it? There’s no sector of the north-east economy that’s looking likely generate significant additional employment that will more than compensate for other job losses. So what would be the driver for population increases that would cause on-going rising school rolls?

“Increasing school rolls have been a given in many parts of Aberdeenshire for many years, but that might be going to change – and our planning for school accommodation would then need to change too.”

Officers assured Cllr Ford that school roll forecasts are kept under constant review.

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Right Budget Decisions Can Protect Services

Aberdeenshire, Opinion No Responses »

Feb 042016

With thanks to Martin Ford.

Aberdeenshire Council faces some tough choices when it comes to set its revenue budget for 2016/17 on 11 February – but most of the savings required can be achieved without damaging services.

That is the view of the authority’s Democratic Independent and Green Group (DIGG) councillors Paul Johnston and Martin Ford.

“The Council does have scope to make a range of substantial savings in its budget that will not affect service delivery,” said Cllr Paul Johnston.

“For instance, compared with expectations, the Council will save well over £1 million on borrowing costs in financial year 2016/17, due to continuing low interest rates. Fuel and electricity prices are also lower than had been forecast. Demand for some services has been less than expected in 2015/16, meaning the current budget allocation is more than required.”

Said Cllr Martin Ford:

“The Council’s budget position has also been eased by additional income. New houses have been built and occupied bringing in additional Council Tax. Sales from the Council’s quarries are up by more than £1 million this year and next year’s budget can be adjusted to reflect an expected higher income too. The Council has gone for renewable energy – biomass and photovoltaic panels – to supply some of its buildings and this both saves on fuel or electricity costs and generates an income.”

The DIGG put forward draft budget proposals at the November 2015 Aberdeenshire Council meeting showing how the Council could effect savings of £17.97 million – slightly more than the total savings of £17.561 million then anticipated to be required to balance the 2016/17 revenue budget.

After the November Aberdeenshire full council meeting, officers identified further budget pressures. Then the Scottish Government’s grant settlement to the Council announced before Christmas was less than the ‘flat cash’ funding anticipated, creating a further £6.390 million shortfall for 2016/17. The Council thus now needs to find savings of £28.312 million to balance its 2016/17 revenue budget.

Since November, the DIGG councillors have been working on how further savings could be effected. While the Council will set a one-year budget on 11 February, it will do so in the context of knowing it needs to make at least a further £30 million of savings in the years to 2020.

The DIGG councillors have made clear their opposition to continuation of the Council Tax freeze.

Cllr Martin Ford said:

“Vital public services such as education and social work must be protected from cuts as top priority. To do that, the Council must re-examine everything it does and seek increased efficiency whenever possible.

“There is certainly scope for some genuine efficiency savings.

“The Council could replace stand-alone public toilets with partnership arrangements for public access to toilets in buildings such as hotels, both improving the service and reducing costs.

“We also believe the Council can make further savings by additional investment in energy efficiency, such as LED street lights, and renewable energy.”

The DIGG is a separate and independent group on Aberdeenshire Council that reached a ‘confidence and supply’ agreement with Aberdeenshire’s new administration last year. Some specific budget commitments were included in that agreement.

Said Cllr Paul Johnston:

“The new administration has already accepted our conditions that there are no cuts to the community learning and development budget line, £250,000 is transferred to increase the budget for cycling and walking and £100,000 is redirected to preventative local health and social care services, specifically to fund third-sector organisations in Aberdeenshire to support vulnerable residents achieve or maintain independent living.”

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Little To Show For Trump Vandalism 10 Years On

Aberdeenshire, News 5 Responses »

Jan 282016

With thanks to Martin Ford.

Ten years after New York developer Donald J. Trump first announced his intention to build a golf resort in Scotland (on 25 January 2006), the North-east has gained little but lost much.

Said Cllr Paul Johnston,

“Essentially, the north-east has ended up with the worst of both worlds. We’ve lost the amazing, natural, dune system – but the promised economic benefits used to justify that destruction are nowhere to be seen.”

Cllr Martin Ford said,

“Mr Trump’s grandiose and extravagant promises of jobs, money and enhanced reputation for the region – parroted by First Minister Alex Salmond’s Scottish Government – have failed to materialise.

“At Menie, little of the proposed resort has been built. None of the 950 timeshares. A 19-bedroom hotel in an existing country house instead of a 450-bedroom new build. One golf course, not two. A much smaller clubhouse than originally proposed. Under 100 jobs, not 6000. Around £30 million spent instead of the £1 billion investment pledged.

“Meanwhile, the unique dune system at Menie, a protected Site of Special Scientific Interest, has been sacrificed – the justification being the economic benefits Mr Trump and the Scottish Government said would come from the resort that hasn’t been built.

“Mr Trump’s neighbours on the Menie estate have had their lives disrupted by bullying and intimidation for most of the last decade.

“Latterly, Mr Trump’s truly revolting behaviour as a presidential hopeful has seen him shunned by many organisations not wanting to be tainted by his obnoxious views. His association with the North-east clearly does nothing for our reputation in the world. He is an embarrassment, not an asset.”

Cllr Paul Johnston said:

“Mr Trump and his golf course have been a divisive issue in the North-east. Had Mr Trump been a more reasonable individual, a golf course could have been built at Menie without touching the Site of Special Scientific Interest or adversely affecting his neighbours.

“We need to learn lessons from this unfortunate episode. Next time an overly ambitious speculator comes round making ridiculous promises, I hope attitudes will be different.”

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