Council Archives - Page 17 of 62

Petition Re. Deer Cull Issues Now Live

Oct 242014

By Suzanne Kelly.

As Aberdeen continues its controversial and unpopular deer culling activities, it continues to spend tens of thousands of pounds on the cull and planting trees.

The trees planted on Tullos Hill recently were done at the expense of 34 or 35 animals which had previously lived on the hill: SNH guidelines (not law, guidelines) are being obeyed: the city and SNH intend only 3 deer should be allowed on the hill. How this can lead to a healthy herd is not understood.

As to the trees, consultants, fencing contractors and others have received tens of thousands of pounds from the taxpayer – and the indications are the plantation may well fail just as two previous attempts have.

The most recent attempt cost Aberdeen £43,800 payable for the failure alone.

A Facebook page Save The Tullos Hill Deer has been monitoring the situation, and a group meets to monitor events as well. Although thousands signed a petition handed to the City Council at the time of the cull, this was written off by the paid consultant, C J Piper, in a report as being a ‘vociferous minority’. This ‘minority’ included several community councils as well.

A minimum of 250 signatures from Aberdeen residents will bring the matter forward for city consideration. Campaigners advise:

“Please consider registering, and signing this petition: the more signatures from people in Aberdeen the better. We are asking the council to come clean on how much was spent so far on killing deer and …the tree scheme, to do a proper count, and to stop killing deer until we have accurate figures. 1. follow the link; 2. register; 3. sign; 4. please share. Thank you very much indeed.”
http://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?id=13

Further details of the history of this situation can be found by using the Aberdeen Voice Search feature.

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Referendum: 5 Weeks On – A View From The Taxi

Aberdeen City, Opinion No Responses »

Oct 242014

By Fin Hall.

The galvanisation of the people is only growing stronger, with groups like ‘The 45’, Women for Indy and The National Collective, working to achieve more powers, as promised by all WM leaders and has been, Gordon Brown.

Surely it is only a matter of time afterwards, that if the powers promised are granted, or if they are not, the populace will realise that we can either ‘manage quite well thank you’, or, if the latter prevails, ‘let’s ditch these liars.’

Meaning the indy situation will come round again.

Right, now I know these comparisons aren’t exactly equal, but the theory, I believe holds up.

When that fateful day in September came around, and over 80% of us trotted off to our local polling stations, to cast our vote, ( ok, I am aware that many had already put in a postal vote, but you know what I mean) we went in there with hope in our hearts and a smile of determination on our faces.

The country, as we know, was invigorated – young and old – many of us staying up all night as the results came in.

But as the night went on, it became apparent that us YES voters were in for a disappointment. A surprising disappointment.

Despite the polls, most people presumed that the independence vote was going our way.

Why else would Aberdeen council have erected double barriers around all the statues in the city centre? Actually why did they do that? Did they expect the victorious YES supporters to attack them in their celebrations with sledge hammers and pneumatic drills?

Not at all. They were just going to be sore losers and block people from perhaps climbing on them and draping them with saltire flags.

In the end it was an un-necessary waste of funds, as silent depression was the order of the day, not celebration.

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Old Susannah’s Journal No. 164 – Slips, Grips And Trips

Opinion, Satire and Humour 6 Responses »

Oct 172014

Old Susannah aka Suzanne Kelly gets to grips with grippy politicians and businessmen both sides of the pond.

It was an interesting week as ever in Aberdeen, as this photo from our trendy, hip, happening cultural hub shows. Yes, it sensibly closes by 6pm, after all, culture shouldn’t overlap regular working hours. In the door of the former 1-up record shop, a blackboard helpfully tells people what is on in Aberdeen. With cutting edge technology like that, it really is a wonder that we didn’t win City of Culture.

I’m told that some of you young folk use something called ‘the internet’ when you want information as opposed to going to the exterior of a closed shop to look at a blackboard – is this true?

In other news, Spear of Destiny came to the Moorings last Saturday; and all was largely marvellous. You never know who you’ll bump into in the Moorings, or who’ll bump into you. Very hard.

A bespectacled baldy man made a spectacle of himself as he stumbled into my friend and I not long after we arrived.

This was no mean feat as we were standing well out of the way of the crowd against the wall by the pinball machine, and he had to cross the floor to get to us before he careened off in the other direction towards the loos. I thought he must be tripping (or at least that seemed his intention); if it had been accidental, I’ll avoid whatever he’d been drinking.

For that matter, an ‘excuse me’ was a bridge too far for our man as well, but then again he looked so very cool that he probably didn’t want to spoil his manly style by an admission of fallability. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought it was a deliberate attempt to recapture playground (or prison) glory days on his part, but surely not. Obviously it wouldn’t have been someone with a grudge.

Whatever the poor lad’s problem was, perhaps it will peter out. But nothing was going to spoil that evening, and nothing did. The little stumble was reported later, well after a most enjoyable night.

Elsewhere in the Granite Deen, our councillors are considerably more sure-footed, keeping us right. These well-balanced people have voted to tear down Victoria Road School, which otherwise would have been doomed to some community-buy out scheme or other, and the building re-used for the benefit of the locals. Not a good way to make as much profit as possible, I’m sure you’ll agree.

In truth, I can’t say the councillors all voted to tear the school down. Some such as Jim Kiddie, voted to keep the building. Clearly he’s not as quick on his feet as Torry Tory councillor Alan Donnelly, who voted to demolish. I’m sure the grateful public will thank Alan appropriately.

Not all the councillors voted to demolish it’s true – one managed to not vote at all. Labour’s Yvonne Allan decided it was best to represent her local constituents by – not voting at all.

This must have been a hard decision to stand up for the people who have nothing to say on the issue. Torry locals who wanted the site saved signed petitions in the thousands. And we all know what a petition gets you these days in Aberdeen. More on all this after the next Torry Community Council meeting, which promises to be quite a love-in as the harbour board’s plans for Torry domination – sorry improvement – will also get an airing.

For some reason, David Cameron seemed eager to distance himself from Lord Freud’s rational ideas

Things are equally as cheerful on the national scene, where well heeled Lord Freud bravely spoke out against the money-wasting benefits system. We’re actually still supporting people who have different abilities, physical and mental challenges as if they were worth paying a full day’s wage to.

For some reason, Lord Fraud is softening his stance at present, but he had this to say initially:

“Now, there is a small… there is a group, and I know exactly who you mean, where actually as you say they’re not worth the full wage and actually I’m going to go and think about that particular issue, whether there is something we can do nationally, and without distorting the whole thing, which actually if someone wants to work for £2 an hour, and it’s working can we actually…”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29628557

If you haven’t guessed, with this sympathetic approach to giving people a living wage, Freud is our Welfare minister. And let’s face it – we have to admire his way with words.

I am trying to think hard if there are any other groups of people who don’t deserve a full day’s wage because they don’t do any proper work. If I do come up with any suggestions, I’ll lay them at Freud’s door.

For some reason, David Cameron seemed eager to distance himself from Lord Freud’s rational ideas. I believe this is the same David Cameron who has done so much good for the disabled and ill with his ATOS assessment schemes. I wonder why Cameron is against Freud – given Cameron’s track record, maybe Dave thinks £2 an hour is far too much salary.

But at this rate there will be as little room for definitions as there is for wildlife in the schemes being hatched. Therefore, on with a few timely terms.

Transatlantic Trade And Investment Partnership (TTIP): (Modern English collective noun) a suite of trade deals between the EU and America beneficial to business.

It’s such a shame that in the 21st century people are still so resistant to change. There were actually people protesting against these schemes last weekend in several capital cities.

People are always afraid of what they don’t understand, it’s a human weakness. Therefore, it’s best we allow the EU and US governments to just keep the details of these schemes under wraps; no sense upsetting people. Just because the governments involved won’t let you vote on these agreements or let you know exactly what’s in them is no reason to think there’s anything undemocratic going on.

The Independent, a left-leaning, anti-capitalist UK publication, has printed some hurtful claims about these agreements.

I just hope that no company’s profit margins suffer because of the piece. Sure a few minor changes to the NHS, taxes, corporate domination over soverign governments, increased spying on private communications will take some getting used to, but I’m sure something good will be on telly to take our minds off of it.

Child Poverty Map: (Modern English compound noun) An interactive map created by End Child Poverty, showing the UK’s disadvantaged children by geographic area.

I think it’s very helpful that this interactive map has been created; now we know what horrible, dreary areas we should be avoiding. Here are a few stats for Aberdeen areas, which for all our oil wealth clearly demonstrate we still have child poverty issues.

Perhaps workhouses would help, coupled with Lord Freud’s helpful suggestion that a £2 per hour wage is too good for some of them.

Westminster Parliamentary Constituency: Aberdeen North
Number of children in In-work poverty 2013: 2,287
Number of children in Out of work poverty 2013: 1,402
% of children in low income families AHC, 2013: 23.89%

Westminster Parliamentary Constituency: Aberdeen South
Number of children in In-work poverty 2013: 1,410
Number of children in Out of work poverty 2013: 618
% of children in low income families AHC, 2013: 14.39%

Map DataMap data ©2014 Google
http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/why-end-child-poverty/poverty-in-your-area

If only there were some wealthy people around here who had some money to donate; Wood I could think of anyone who cared about the less fortunate.

I’m sure our council does the best it can with its finances, but you have to prioritise things. We’ve got hungry consultants to pay for (isn’t that right Chris Piper?), after all, those deer aren’t going to shoot themselves, and nothing is more important than trying to grow trees on a windswept garbage tip. PricewaterhouseCoopers has to put food on the table as well, and we didn’t even give them a million pounds last year.

There was always for instance the chance that Victoria Road school could have been given, as requested, to the locals to run as a community centre; people old and young could have used it as a resource. Not that I’m suggesting we should have done anything radical or trendy like having a food bank. Not in good old Torry, where the money flows like the effluent from the sewerage works we were gifted with a few years back.

Now the city, the harbour board and Scottish Enterprise want to gift us with a much larger industrial scale harbour, and all it will cost us is the remaining open free public spaces Torry has. But it will create jobs, so we’re told (never mind the air quality, house prices and quality of living). Then perhaps some of these little urchins can start earning their keep.

It’s not as if we are planning to school them for anything other than vocational work in the energy sector (that’s if they’re lucky).

So please do have a look at the child poverty map. Another thought comes to mind – if we’re to keep having Primark priced clothes at our disposal, then we may want to start getting some of these poor kids into factory work over here, that would be more jobs creation. Happily, I’m sure we have people already looking into this.

Next week (perhaps) a further look at NHS Grampian, The latest in Union Terrace Gardens, etc. Or perhaps a word on UKIP hopeful, who starved over 200 sheep to death – possibly while testing out one of UKIP’s future plans for us.

PS – for some reason, people are saying the distance from Haymarket to Waverly stations in Edinburgh is the same distance as Aberdeen’s train station to the inaccessible, dank, under-used Union Terrace Gardens.

The distance is just under a mile and a half between the two Edinburgh destinations, some 2,400 metres. Here, the distance is between 700 metres (from the closest point) ranging to 1,000 metres to the gentle, sloping entrance by the theatre, filled with druggies, drunks and other undesirables. The Edinburgh train journey between the two stations takes 5 minutes.

A journey from Aberdeen station to a proposed new station in UTG (which would be the thin edge of the wedge to building in our gardens) would be less than 45 seconds. But you’ve got to have your connectivity, don’t you – otherwise we’d have people walking around. Some might say Edinburgh is a city that requires a bit of walking, but we don’t want that sort of thing here.

There seem to be some groups wanting a train station in the gardens: I can promise any councillors reading this, there are many people and a group or two who definitely won’t sit by for such a nonsense, even if NESTRANS were to want to spend millions on a station so close to an existing one. Do keep that in mind, won’t you?

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ACC 2013 Taxes: A Good Year For Usual Suspects

Aberdeen City, Opinion 8 Responses »

Oct 032014

Previous administrations sold off property at a fraction of real value (funny, no one can find the details of the police investigation that was meant to happen – watch this space). They also wrote off £11 million in unpaid debts. Here is a snapshot of where you tax money was deployed last year. The trend of arms’ length bodies, quangos, quasi-charities, consultants and private companies hiving tax money off continues apace. Here is a small snapshot of where some of your money has gone. By Suzanne Kelly

Congratulations to Sir Ian Wood, lifetime achievement winner of a Northern Star business award. How wonderful.
A ceremony was held this past week; dignitaries ate dinners, media bodies were hired (Fiona Armstrong, compere) to appear and/or film this event, run by the Chamber of Commerce.

As self-congratulatory beanfeasts are concerned, this is not without precedent. But perhaps you should realise that you are helping to fund all these events at least in part, while being told there is little in the way of funds to keep schools open, to help the homeless, to provide round-the-clock care to those who need it and so forth.

Figures for this year’s awards are not made public, nor are they ever likely to be completely transparent, as there are now so many entities taking a slice of the pie.

Last year charity Station House Media Unit received some £2,300 for filming this event. The Chamber of Commerce has received a huge sum of money from us this year. During the Union Terrace Gardens referendum, it sent invoices between ACSEF unnamed contractors and the city council footed the bill.

When asked to name some of these suppliers – for instance whoever it was who received £150 (give or take) for a photo commissioned to show that UTG was ‘inaccessible’ (there is a huge sloping entrance by His Majesty’s Theatre), the Chamber wrote to say it was a private entity, and as such was not required to explain a thing.

A long, long time ago if you paid your tax, the government would directly use your money to buy goods services and employ people. Alas, this led to huge problems – such as your being able to clearly trace how much of your money was spent and where it went.

This is the age of the devolved responsibility entity, of quangos, special purpose vehicles and other entities which serve to obscure where your money goes and make salaries paid to those who act in these middle-man bodies invisible.

Tax money here in Aberdeen flows rather steadily to bodies such as Aberdeen Inspired, ACSEF, Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce, Station House Media Unit, and a host of consultants large and small.

While some of these bodies undoubtedly do good work – did they really provide value for money in 2013? And those that are social enterprises – does that put them above scrutiny? Does doing charitable work or providing training mean that any transparency as to how taxpayer money is spent should go out the window?

Here is a brief outline of how Aberdeen taxpayer’s money was employed in 2013 in a few situations.

A Tree For Every Citizen.

With great pride, Councillor Aileen Malone explained that this scheme had to be done in the most cost-effective way: it was only fair to the taxpayers seemed to be her approach. She was the convener of the Housing & Environment Committee, and pushed this scheme through claiming shooting the existing deer on Tullos was the only affordable thing to do for this great scheme (see Aberdeen Voice issues past).

In 2011 the taxpayer coughed up some £40,000 pounds to kill deer, raise fences and spray pesticide on the trees.

Here is a look at the invoices paid in 2013 for keeping the Tree for Every Citizen scheme going (note – this may not be a full list of costs):

Company/Consultant	Invoice date	Brief Description	Amount inc. VAT
Bryan Massie	19/12/13	TFEC – Site management, weeding	2493.49
Bryan Massie	(invoice 629)	TFEC – Tullos maintenance	9,943.98
Bryan Massie	17/5/13	TFEC – herbicides – St Fitticks, Westfield, Seaton, Balgownie	4303.80
Bryan Massie	17/5/13	TFEC – Tullos ‘beating up’ and tree shelter	16,682.04
Bryan Massie	12/2/13	TFEC – Tullos	28,968.00
		Sub Total	62,391.31
C J Piper / Chris Piper (noted for report claiming only a ‘vociferous minority’ objected to the TFEC scheme, said report not mentioning the tens of thousands of pounds he would be paid)	1/10/13	Preparation of strategy; time at £375 per day	12,000
C J Piper / Chris Piper	26/9/13	Scoping, survey, spatial plans	6,000
C J Piper / Chris Piper	26/7/13	Professional fees £950; travel 675	6,000
		Sub Total	24,000
Minimum cost to taxpayer 2013 for Tree For Every Citizen Scheme			86,391.31

Combined with previous expenditures of £83,598 known to have been spent on the scheme, perhaps we could have let the meadow and the deer stay. (note: a petition asking for full disclosure of the costs, and a moratorium on shooting more deer until population figures are known at the least is awaiting approval from the city for its wording; it will be launched soon. This petition will also ask for a ‘comfort letter’ from the SNH/Forestry Commission: the city had to pay £43,800 back for the failure of Phase 1).

So £83,598 added to the above £86,391 makes £169,989. How the procurement exercise for our experts was carried out likewise remains a mystery.

Fence-Sitting.

But if Aileen Malone insisted fences were too expensive back in the day she had the deer shot as being an economical solution (in logic defying animal welfare charities such as the Scottish SPCA and Animal Concern) – she did have a point: fencing is rather expensive. Here is a summary of invoices received from Alpha Fencing in 2013:

Alpha Fencing.

Invoice date	Brief Description	Amount inc. VAT
26/314 (included in 2013 accounts)	Airyhall	20,333
26/3/14		8,205
30/8/13	Duthie	4,671
22/8/13	Glashieburn	2,185
4/2/13		8,939
12/8/13		7,875
	Total	52,208

Perhaps there are other fencing contractors; Alpha catches the eye as they were involved in work on Tullos. If other fencing contractors likewise earned money from the taxpayer last year, perhaps we will be told what companies are involved.

Big Loser.

One area in which money was saved concerned the loss of the Big Partnership contract. Despite having operatives charging between £40 and £65 per hour, the invoices were not huge, and stopped c. May 2013.

Stewart Milne.

Stewart Milne’s companies have not done too badly out of the Aberdonian taxpayer. There was the small matter of land in Westhill sold to one of the Milne companies for a pittance, with the understanding that any profit would be shared with the city. That never happened and the Milne entity took the city to the highest courts in the country before losing (cost of this legal action unknown).

At the same time, the Milne machine won work worth nearly £10 million. In 2013 invoices submitted for contracts with Milne were as follows:

Brief Description	Amount
Hayton Road	30,044
Bryon Park	47,130
Rorie Hall	28,097
Total	105,271

Aberdeen Inspired

Perhaps someone from Aberdeen Inspired will be inspired to share with the business rate payers – i.e. the consumers – precisely what it does with all of the money it is given from the council. We’ve had bunting; the city has stumped up extra money for those trash compactors dotting the street. (nb – is there no waste segregation in these bins and if not, are we not just adding to landfill by using them?).

Inspired has also decided to use mobile phone signals to trace our footfall in the area; tracking how much time is spent inside a shop for instance. Data protection lobbyists are very concerned about the technology involved; Inspired insists it is completely anonymous.

At any rate, what is kept secret is how much anyone connected with Inspired is paid, how their procurement process works, and who is making the decisions. In case you think there is nothing more to Inspired than small change for craft stalls and banners, here is what they received from ACC last year:

Invoice date	Brief Description	Amount inc. VAT
2/10/13	Bid Levy Collection, both outstanding and collection, plus VAT	148,326.32
2/7/13		715,292.94
14/2/14 (in 2013 accounts)		30,038.73
12/8/13		28,235.52
29/3/13		21,695.80
2/10/13		9,550.00
	Subtotal re Bid Levy	953,139.31
4/12/13	Trash bins	18,489.60
25/10/13	Trash bins	18,489.60
(date unclear)	Ice rink	12,000.00
(date unclear)	‘wayfinding project’	31,830.60
	Subtotal non Bid Levy	80,809.8
Total invoiced by Bid/Inspired to ACC 2013		1,033,949.11

It would be interesting to see where all of this money has been used, what the overheads including salary are, as the tattered bunting blows in the breeze. No doubt some good work has been done – but what is the cost, what has been done with this consumer-generated, taxpayer-supplied million pounds: and has it resulted in increased sales for those who voted the scheme into existence?

SHMU

Station House Media Unit engages in training, and helping disadvantaged area residents interested in the media; it publishes brochures for and/or with the council. Last year SHMU was criticised when it used photographs created by people who had not given advance permission and who had not been offered payment for their work – this would be a standard business practice for any publisher.

SHMU reacted badly to exposure of this situation; it may well be a charitable institution doing good work – but that does not put it above scrutiny.

Considering that so much of its funding comes from the public, it would be interesting to see what salaries are paid, what the overheads are, how procurement is done, etc, etc. – but again, this is a body that while funded largely by the public is not accountable to the public under Freedom of Information legislation.

Here is a selection of some of the funds SHMU received last year: the Council had 43 pages of documentation pertaining to funds sought / funds released to SHMU:

Invoice date	Brief Description	Amount
29/11/13	Pertains to community support fund grant offer;	1,624
31/5/13	Filming Start Awards (Chamber of Commerce award ceremony to business; Sir Ian Wood received a lifetime award in 2014)	2,300
	Quarterly funding of 13,750/quarter	55,000
Winter 2013; Spring 2014	7 community magazines	11,929
4/12/13	Additional cost for 7 magazines	1,624
(date unclear)	Training	8,500
7/12/13	Connecting communities through community media	16,750
Sub total for this selection of SHMU invoices		97,727

There were a number of youth employment-related invoices as well.

But far and away the biggest earners of the invoices examined were the Chamber of Commerce and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Secret Chamber.

The Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce acted as a de facto go-between during the Union Terrace Gardens referendum; ACSEF would commission work across a wide spectrum of services and price brackets. This would be invoiced to the City Council via the Chamber of Commerce.

Invoices of this type seen by Aberdeen Voice did not disclose who or what organisation performed the work undertaken. What procurement procedures were followed and if any ACSEF members directly benefitted from these invoices remains unclear at present: there seems to be no obligation ACSEF or the Chamber of Commerce to say how taxpayer money was spent.

Thirty one documents were presented by the City Council’s finance office covering invoices and funds paid to the Chamber in 2013. Some were for miniscule amounts such as breakfasts. Some were just a bit larger:

Invoice date	Brief Description	Amount
29/11/13	Sponsorship of transport to Rio	£542.48
30/4/13		2112.00
28/6/13		2112.00
13/11/13		324.00
29/11/13		542.48
18/6/13	Northern Star	7,800.00
1/10/13	Membership	2,838.00
6/8/13	Offshore Europe Breakfast	588.00
28/2/13	Research	4,560.00
31/12/13	Research	4,560.00
28/2/13		1080.00
31/12/13		540.00
29/11/13		2,160.00
29/11/13		7,020.00
20/2/13		1,140.00
Total for approx. half of the 2013 invoices		£37,918.96

Beancounters Beanfeast.

The accounting firms have done quite well this year. KPMG made a tidy £10,740; this was positively modest compared to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

PwC may be remembered for its projections during the UTG referendum: its projections for the web’s construction and associated prosperity were, shall we say, enthusiastic. As per an earlier article on the subject:

“PricewaterhouseCoopers have come up with some grandiose projections including the creation of some 6,500 permanent jobs and £122 million flowing into Aberdeen every year until c. 2023: all because of the granite web. PricewaterhouseCoopers were first paid £41,000 and change for TIF-related work in March 2010. Other invoices followed, and so far I have been shown by Scottish Enterprise £71,000 worth of PwC invoices.”

The firm still enjoys the generosity of the Aberdonian taxpayer. Its consultants received hundreds of pounds per day each; its invoices covered a spectrum of services from the (scandal-hit) crematorium to fraud work. Here is a list of their 2013 invoices to ACC in round figures:

Invoice date	Brief Description	Amount
15/7/13	Pinewood	1,800
3/2		170,949
20/3/13	HMRC	1800
15/7/13		9,600
15/10/13		5,200
9/7/13		2,400
3/12/13		33,270
17/7/13		30,229
16/9/13	(included c £19K for crematorium)	78,142
15/4/13		165,889
18/12/13		59,281
21/11/13		86,540
8/11/13		13,678
1/5/13		2,940
29/5/13		11,206
6/8/13	Letter to HMRC	900
Total to PricewaterhouseCoopers 2013		673,824

Summing Up.

The city has joined the ranks of other municipalities that have ‘outsourced’ functions in order to save money. This growing trend does not always stand up to scrutiny. Consultants are needed to run services which, if were previously not-for-profit when in the public sector, need to be profitable for those who have chosen to run them.

In days gone by, the reason people paid tax was that there were some functions – education, good health care, etc. – which ideally should be free of the need to turn a profit. Our taxes were meant to benefit the people and the causes that needed help.

As more and more outsourcing is done, transparency moves away. The city’s accounts this year allude to an incident of fraud. Is it possible that the more people and entities that grow around managing services, the higher the chance there is of fraud? Does the increasing lack of transparency lend itself to those who would commit fraud?

Can a private company such as PricewaterhouseCoopers that stands to make money if (for instance) a granite web is built be entirely trusted to be 100% impartial on weighing up the practicalities of a project which would benefit its profit line?

Should the city weigh more carefully how its arm’s length bodies engage in procurement? From the 2013 figures, a case could be made that the city needs to look into its financial arrangements more carefully (and that’s before we look at the costs of outsourced health care).

Audit Scotland had some strong recommendations to the council several years back. If lessons have been learnt, let’s hope we get a clearer picture in the future of where our money is going.

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Local Greens Celebrate Huge Rise In Membership

Aberdeenshire, Environment, Featured No Responses »

Sep 262014

With thanks to Cllr Martin Ford.

The local Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire branch of the Scottish Green Party has doubled in size in just a few days following last week’s independence referendum.

Nationally, the Scottish Green Party has seen a rise in membership of over 3,800, again more than doubling the total number of party members.

So far, the Aberdeenshire Green Party branch has gained over 140 new members – with more still joining every day.

John McCallum, convenor of the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Green Party branch, said:

“The independence referendum truly energised politics in Scotland, bringing unprecedented levels of debate, engagement and voter turnout.

“‘Green Yes’, the Scottish Green Party’s distinctive vision of Scotland’s potential, meanwhile rang a bell with a great many new supporters, both Yes- and No-voters. They now see our Party as the best prospect of delivering the social, economic and environmental change they want to see in Scotland.

“I am delighted to be welcoming so many new Green Party members to our local branch. The huge boost to our membership will stand the Party in good stead in the elections to come. We can confidently look forward to fielding more candidates, running stronger campaigns and seeing more Greens elected over the next few years.”

Aberdeenshire Green councillor Martin Ford said:

“An increase in membership on this scale will transform the Party’s capacity to put its case for a fairer society based on the sustainable use of natural resources – and its capacity to fight and win elections.

“The priorities the Party highlighted during the referendum are applicable to either outcome. The difference for us now is that we will have many more members contributing to getting our message across.”

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Torry Harbour Development: Have Your Say Now

Aberdeen City, Articles, Environment, Opinion 3 Responses »

Sep 142014

By Suzanne Kelly.

This Monday and Tuesday is your chance to see what’s proposed for Torry’s Nigg Bay: an extension of the industrial harbour into what is now public recreational coastal space and an important wildlife spot.

As per an announcement on Facebook:

“Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeen Harbour Board and Scottish Enterprise are preparing a Development Framework for Nigg Bay, Altens and East Tullos which will consider the long term development and regeneration opportunities arising as a result of the proposed new harbour at Nigg Bay. We are seeking your opinions on the future development of these areas and are holding a series of public exhibitions at which we would welcome your feedback.

“The next exhibition will be held at Old Torry Community Centre on Monday 15th September 1pm—7pm and Tuesday 16th September 12pm—5pm.

“For further information please contact Aoife Buckley on 0131 220 7777.”

Area residents are already fighting a battle over their poor air quality as the sewerage plant’s stench has spawned its own Facebook page. Nigg Bay is a popular spot with wildlife tourists, who come from all parts of the globe to see Aberdeen’s coastal marine life (dolphins, seals, whales) and bird life (protected species include swans and eider ducks).

Despite indicating they would keep Aberdeen Voice’s Suzanne Kelly advised of all developments, no one from the Harbour Board has been in touch about this matter.

Potential drawbacks to this scheme include:-

Air quality – particulates in the harbour area already exceed EU levels of acceptable pollution, and have done so for some time. Adding more road congestion and more marine pollution to the area will make things worse. The carbon footprint of the new working harbour and the construction of same are wholly opposite to Aberdeen City Council’s plans to reduce our area’s carbon footprint.

SSSI status – Nigg Bay is important geologically. The public will not accept further loss of SSSI-protected coastal area in Aberdeenshire.

Quality of life for Torry residents – the recent harbour expansion has brought increased road traffic, increased noise (at all hours of the day) and in all probability increased marine and air pollution. Torry residents have already had to sacrifice the historic fishing cottages for the initial harbour; they were recently coaxed into selling coastal land for the benefit of Aberdeen City Council.

In return for that land sale, they were promised the ridiculous ‘gift’ of public lavatory facilities near Victoria Bridge – which the Harbour Board refused to agree to.

Biodiversity – the plan to turn unspoilt Nigg Bay into a working harbour will be the death knell for marine, bird and animal life in the area. It is bad enough that the sewage plant was given approval for the stretch of coast south of the Bay, but your plans will damage biodiversity irreparably. I know any plans for expansion will be opposed by conservation, animal welfare and ecological groups and charities.

Public recreation – the public enjoy using Nigg Bay all year round. It is not a development opportunity; it is one of the few remaining unspoilt parts of Torry.

Other harbours – there are dozens of harbours on mainland Scotland; some are far closer to areas which will require decommissioning services (something mentioned by the Aberdeen Harbour Board as a reason for expansion in its press releases / news stories).

The Scrabster Harbour has been given a Government grant to expand recently, and it is more than able to deal with demand from the growing decommissioning sector. Nigg fabrication yard likewise has facilities in existence suitable for servicing the decommissioning industry.

Property values – since economics seem to play such an important part in Aberdeen’s decision-making processes, perhaps the Board can give examples of residential areas where property values have not decreased as a result of this type of expansion.

I for one do not want to see my neighbourhood transformed for health and environmental reasons – but clearly residential property will decrease in value if expansion is approved. No residents, taxpayers or voters will accept this plan.

Harbour management – I would like to see the statistics on how many ships use the harbour, which ships are in part at present, etc., but the function on the Harbour Board’s website is currently not working. I am certain it is possible for Aberdeen Harbour to continue to thrive as it is without expansion.

In fact there is a case to make that eventually harbour use will decrease in coming years – competition with other Scottish harbours, changes in energy generation to renewables, and dwindling oil supplies will have an impact. The environment is not to be sacrified for an increase when so many other harbours can also service temporarily increased demands.

Leisure cruises are not feasible – the Harbour Board suggests that cruise ships could enter Aberdeen Harbour and/or Nigg Bay. Nigg is of course too shallow. In any event, do we really think Aberdeen’s industrial harbour, crucial for the oil industry, is an appropriate destination for cruises?

I cannot imagine a business case could be made supporting the viability of cruise liner passengers arriving there, staying in Torry and spending money in Torry and the wider city area. If there is any data/case to support the viability of such a move, please forward it.

Potential pluses include more money for the Harbour Board, dock work employment.

Whatever your view, this is your chance to see the plans and make your opinion count.

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Granite City To Erupt With Colour And Talent

Articles No Responses »

Aug 292014

With thanks to Paul Beaton.

The Granite City will erupt with colour and talent this weekend when an event aimed at celebrating all that’s great about Aberdeen takes place.

The gathering, Celebrate Aberdeen, will feature the very best in local talent, with a host of performers and community groups set to take to stages within the city’s Union Terrace Gardens and Academy Shopping Centre courtyard, as well as on Denburn Viaduct, St Nicholas Deck and St Nicholas Street.

The stellar line-up features more than 70 acts, including the Aberdeen Rock Choir, north-east wrestling organisation, WrestleZone, and local comedy club Breakneck Comedy.

Meanwhile, an event aimed at showcasing the city’s rich cultural diversity will also be incorporated into Celebrate Aberdeen, with One World Day organising a range of activities along Denburn Viaduct, where stalls will sell a mix of fairly traded and ethical goods, over the course of the weekend.

The group will also host a stage, where entertainers will perform music, dance, poetry, storytelling, and much more.

The wider Celebrate Aberdeen event – organised by the big-hearted team of volunteers behind the Celebrate Aberdeen Parade, in partnership with Aberdeen City Council – builds on the success of the parade, which saw more than 3,500 people from 130 different third sector organisations come together on three occasions to highlight the exceptional work carried out by local charities.

This new event, which is being sponsored by Aberdeen head-quartered oil and natural gas operator CNR International, has the same ultimate aim as the parade; to unite people in a positive manner to celebrate the great people of Aberdeen.

Celebrate Aberdeen’s Morven Mackenzie commented:

“We’re extremely excited that Celebrate Aberdeen is now upon us and look forward to treating the people of the city to an action-packed weekend.

“Organising the event has involved a lot of hard work but we’ve been overwhelmed by the response we’ve received from performers, businesses, charities and community groups, who have all been eager to celebrate all that’s great about the Granite City.

“We would just urge the people of Aberdeen and visitors to this great city to show their support by coming along and joining in the fun!”

More Info:

Facebook.
Weekend Schedule.

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Old Susannah No. 160 – Quiz Time

Opinion, Satire and Humour 2 Responses »

Aug 262014

Voice’s Old Susannah takes a look over the past week’s events in the ‘Deen and beyond. By Suzanne Kelly.

Tally Ho! There is much ado in the Granite City; Friday is the Public Meeting concerning the future of the former St Nicholas House site.

Of course the beautiful, iconic, vibrant, dynamic creative glass-box office and retail development is a foregone conclusion; it will go ahead. It may take a chunk or two out of property that is part of the Lord Provost’s House, but at least we’ll have new places to shop.

As I say, whatever speakers say in their 10 minutes of allotted time, nothing will change; the plans are unchangeable.

Then again, it was a meant to be set in stone that the land at Loirston Loch was to be kept pristine green and serene as a wildlife habitat. It’s now being surrounded by more urban sprawl.

Old Susannah was allowed 10 minutes to come in and speak about the plans for the former St Nicholas site, but as the plans are made, somehow I don’t think I’ll speak after all.

You could be forgiven for thinking that planning in Aberdeen is a ratchet which can only be torqued in favour of developers’ wishes and construction projects, and never towards conservation, clean air and green space. But there you go.

On the other hand, it may be worth showing up to this meeting, for surely some people will be speaking of the crucial need for a civic square. Sir Ian Wood will doubtless remind us of his passion for a civic square. Aberdeen City Gardens Trust and ACSEF affiliate Tom Smith will surely be leading the charge to demand we take this opportunity to make the public gathering space that he desperately wanted the ACGT to manage.

Stewart Milne will renew his impassioned, selfless case for a city square or granite web as well, which clearly had nothing to do with his then need for parking spaces for Triple Kirks (also now to be a glass box office complex). Perhaps this is an unfair comparison for me to make; after all Union Terrace Gardens is bigger than the area now under consideration.

I’m sure it is a complete coincidence that UTG is common good land worth a small packet and that ACSEF, Wood and the ACGT were so keen to get their hands on it. I guess we need a civic square (whatever that is) an outdoor theatre (great in winter no doubt) and so on – but only if they’re to be built on top of open, green spaces owned by the people.

It’s not as if I think the city’s officers don’t listen to the public or formulate plans and carry them out no matter what. But considering the deer cull and tree planting at Tullos, I could be forgiven for thinking so.

On a less contentious note, I saw the amazing, singular Jeremy Paxman in his Edinburgh Festival premier. For some reason he was acting nice; guess it was all part of the show for clearly he must be scathing and sarcastic all the time. The tickets had sold out quickly for some reason or other.

At one point he explained why he wasn’t always nice and kind to elected officials. Apparently, there are some elected officials who are dishonest, inept, bumbling, self-serving and dishonest. I’d never have thought it. At least we’re safe from that kind of thing in the Deen.

Clearly we don’t always appreciate the saintly self-sacrificing nature of our elected officials, experts and public figures. Perhaps a few timely definitions may help engender more respect from us for our betters.

But first: a competition. A bottle of BrewDog to the first correct answer pulled from the hat on Friday:-

Q1. Garden Talk: Match the person to the quote

wanted “to create a hub, a focal point for future generations, which will draw together the retail and cultural aspects of the city.”
asked “that it be noted that every week the councillors of the Monitoring group have asked for the ‘no action’ option to be part of the public display and this has been passed on to the Management Board by Mr Brough. The Councillors stated that they were very disappointed that this [voting to keep the gardens as they were and improve them] was still not an option.”
“This [Granite Web] ingenious and inspiring design for Aberdeen’s key public space gives the city a new social landscape but one rooted in its extraordinarily rich heritage and natural assets.”
“Right enough, there have been more people in the gardens recently but they seem to go in to have their photograph taken and wave placards, rather than to play draughts or spot trains as they did many years ago.”
“there would NOT be a ‘no action’ option [to vote to leave the gardens alone ]at this stage because the feedback was part of a tendering process to select the best of six designs [allowing the public to reject the scheme would, of course, saved the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds and a divisive referendum. no one outside of private company ACTG has seen all of the votes or been allowed to count the votes against the scheme cast]”

a) Morris the Monkey – fictional character used by BiG Partnership to promote building in UTG (presumably either no one else wanted the job, or a fictional character was all they could afford to explain the benefits of a £140 million pound granite spaghetti junction).

b) Sir Ian Wood the Monkey (Scottish Enterprise, Wood Group, Wood Family Trust).

c) Sir Duncan Rice the Monkey – chair of this, that and the other and the design committee.

d) Gerry Brough the Monkey – long-gone ACC employee gently persuading us to have a granite web (and nothing but a granite web) known for his gentle temper and soft words. Missed by no one.

e) Councillor West.

Q2. How many times over the years has First Minister Alex Salmond visited the Menie Estate residents to hear concerns living under Donald Trump’s stewardship of the estate?

a) 10
b) 20
c) 0
d) 0 – but he will accept an invitation to visit and will come to see Anthony Baxter’s and Richard Phinney’s new film ‘A Dangerous Game’ on 5 September in Aberdeen

Q3. Mixed bag: match the number to the fact

5,847
7
1,378
£50,000,000
£50,000,000
more than 16,000
£15,000,000 approximately
65,000

a) Approximate amount of money sitting in The Wood Family Trust to be used for charitable works (eventually).

b) Number of people signing David Milne’s petition asking for an investigation held into propriety and handling of planning permission granted to Donald Trump at the Menie Estate.

c) Number of people who voted for the granite web during the UTG design consultation.

d) Amount of money shielded by tax from certain oil giant’s empire’s offshore payroll scheme.

e) Sum of money pledged by Sir Ian Wood to create Granite Web.

f) Number of people in Scotland reliant on food banks according to one charity.

g) Number of people who voted for the winter garden design during the UTG design consultation.

h) Number of people who turned down David Milne’s petition on Trump

Q4. How much oil do we have left?

a) 24bn barrels of oil could be recovered – First Minister Alex Salmond.

b) 12 – 24 billion barrels of oil potential – Sir Ian Wood, report of February 2014.

c) ‘Sir Ian claimed there are about 15bn to 16.5bn barrels of recoverable oil left, and that the figure from the White Paper is 45% to 60% too high’. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-28867487

d) “hard-pushed” to extract 15bn barrels – Melfort Campbell.

e) no one really knows for certain – everyone else.

And now time for one brief but poignant definition

Suffering (English gerund) the state of being in pain, discomfort, hardship

Never let it be said that Old Susannah turns a blind eye to the hardships faced by some of our older people, and the forces that conspire to break up families. With today’s economic problems, some men are having to slave long, hard hours and travel extensively to keep their families together. I am of course thinking about our depute Lord Provost John Reynolds, his wife and family. And so are you.

It all started innocently enough; some spoilsports were questioning the necessity of some of the wee trips the depute was going to make. Well, quite rightly Mrs depute Lord Provost wrote a letter to the Press & Journal. Standing by her man, she explained:

“I am his wife of nearly 45 years [you can feel the pain], I have supported his work as a councillor and kept quiet when things have been said that upsets us as a family.

“Your piece has changed all that and I will not sit back and let you make it appear he is going off on ‘cooncil jaunts’. ..During his years as Lord Provost, 70 hours weeks became the norm… John was asked to take on the role of promoting Aberdeen and its oil-related industries abroad because he is passionate about the city and everything it has to offer.”

Alas! One of his upcoming trips to the US to go to a conference was booked on the assumption the conference was yearly, not biannual. But it’s going ahead anyway, so we can demonstrate ‘we’re open for business’ according to Jenny Laing, Council Leader. Reynolds said

“because it was approved there was still business to be done in Louisiana, doors that can be opened for Aberdeen businesses particularly, but also bringing Louisiana companies with their technology over to Aberdeen.”

One killjoy, Cllr Yuill said:

“we should remove this visit on the basis that the committee agreed to it based on inaccurate information.”

I’m sure any private sector business wouldn’t mind finding out its employees were jetting out to non-existent events without any disciplinary action being taken. And if a person booking travel at taxpayer expense doesn’t have time to check out whether the conference actually exists that they’re booking someone to travel to, that’s pretty understandable as well.

It’s not as if the council has never taken decisions based on inaccurate information before, is it?

In my part of the world, the private sector has to watch costs. Bring in business? Private companies send out literature and presentations are made in teleconferences. Touting for business on spec? The internet is cheaper and just that little bit more environmentally friendly. It’s just that little bit easier to spend taxpayer money isn’t it?

We are assuredly open for business. Perhaps the depute Lord Provost will find our next Donald Trump on one of his jaunts, or another businessman determined to take the small boats off the tiny harbour in Cove. I can’t wait.

But while Reynolds is looking for business in America, it’s just a shame that his family life has had to suffer. The drinks receptions, the public events, the hospitality – all very wearing after a bit don’t you know.

Perhaps we should not have forced him into being a councillor, being a depute / Lord Provost. So if you’re a nurse working double shifts, an oil rig worker, in the police, fire department or in teaching, just think how comparatively lucky you have it. Perhaps if things get rougher, you’ll see a few of our hard-done by councillors on your next visit to the food bank.

Next week: A new version of who’s who in the city and shire – what councillors are in what quangos and groups; what businessmen have cosy links to what politicians, and more.

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Free Attractions At Duthie Park Open Day

Aberdeen City, Information No Responses »

Aug 152014

With thanks to Dave Macdermid.

Organisers of this weekend’s Friends of Duthie Park Open Day, sponsored by A-FAB, have been boosted with the news that Clydelink, the company that operates pedalos and canoes on behalf of Aberdeen City Council, is offering the attractions for free during the course of Sunday’s event.

Tony Dawson, Chairman of the Friends, believes the gesture will all but guarantee that last year’s attendance figure of just over 6,000 will be surpassed this time round.

“When the pedalos were reintroduced last summer, demand was fantastic and the fact that, along with the canoes, they will be free for the duration of our open day. We will also be offering rickshaw rides round the park I’m sure they will also be extremely popular.

“The park is looking stunning right now and, with so much going on this Sunday, all we need now is the weather to make it another day to remember.”

Among the other attractions at this year’s FODP Open Day (www.friendsofduthiepark.co.uk), which runs from noon until 4 pm on Sunday (17th August), are The Bon Accord Silver band, piper Calum Lawrie, Bokwa with Jodie, Zumba & powerhoops with Elma, The Sharon Gill School of Dancing, Wrestlezone Scotland, The Airyhall Dancers, AFC in the Community, British Military Fitness, First Aberdeen vintage vehicles, various kiddies rides, the canoes and, the one and only, Spike the Talking Cactus.

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Should Young People Be Allowed Time Off School To Vote

Aberdeen City, Opinion 4 Responses »

Aug 152014

Struan King - European Elections Polling Station

Struan King believes the value placed on the youth vote needs to change.

With thanks to Struan King.

Two young people from Aberdeen have written to Jenny Laing and Mike Russell calling for 16 and 17 year olds to be allowed time off school to vote in the referendum.
Aberdeen Central’s two MSYPs have asked whether those in school and who are registered to vote could be allowed to miss out some of their school day to visit their local polling station and cast their ballots.

Struan King is the former Chairperson of Aberdeen City Youth Council 2013-14

Struan King MSYP commented:

“Young people are those who will be most affected by the Scottish Question and as such it is essential that they are given every possible opportunity to get involved.

Voting is a key part of the democratic process and that is something that is now part of the Curriculum for Excellence being taught in schools. Rather than preaching the importance of taking part in politics, we hope that they can instead be given time to actually make their mark.”

“As part of the run-up to the September Vote we as MSYP aim to reach as many young people as possible and will be supporting a variety of engagement activities in Aberdeen”

Michael Hutchison added:

“This would be a simple and practical measure to ensure that young people have the opportunity to actually cast their vote.

“Allowing those who have registered to vote to take a short time out of school to get to and from the polling station shouldn’t be asking for too much.

“I hope that this suggestion will be considered and I would be delighted if it helped lead to increased turnout among young people.”

WHY IS VOTING IMPORTANT?

Struan King MSYP commented:

“It is common practice for young people to be excluded from participating in the democratic process; the value placed on the youth vote needs to change.”

“No matter how they vote we want to ensure they do vote and do so informed and empowered”

“There are so many issues that affect young people and very few elected members are actively consulting or championing their voices. What we as a Youth Parliament do is step up to ensure every young person has their voice and has the information to get involved.”

WILL AN INCREASE IN YOUNG VOTERS CHANGE POLITICS?

Struan King MSYP commented:

“Extending the Vote to 16 & 17 year olds is a landmark for Scottish politics. The acid test will come post September in how this historic opportunity is carried forward; has the referendum re-engaged youth and will we see more young people involved in all levels of the democratic process.”

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