Campaigners fighting to save an Aberdeen park for future generations will reveal how Torry has been sacrificed to industrial development for decades.
Friends of St Fittick’s Park have been up in arms in tireless efforts to prevent their “last bit of green space” from being paved over for the city’s Energy Transition Zone.
A 40-hectare site at St Fittick’s Park and Doonie’s Rare Breeds Farm has been earmarked for redevelopment to help the UK and Scotland reach its net zero target.
In the last few years, the group has been staging protests, holding information events and lobbying in Holyrood to prove the importance of the park to the local community.
However, the project took a step closer to fruition last year after Aberdeen City Council approved its local development plan – paving the way for the park to be concreted.
The community group will now hold a special night of films to show the extent of damage caused to the Aberdeen neighbourhood over the last decades.
Nether Torry, Old Torry and the Bay of Nigg – all lost to development
Three films will be screened at the Old Torry Community Centre on Saturday – including the premiere of a historical short Torry: Lost to the Harbour?
It presents new and archive footage to tell the little known details of the three times when parts of Torry were destroyed to provide space for the city’s harbour.
A new documentary shot in Torry and Edinburgh – They’re Killing Our Kids – will also shine light on locals’ fight against the injustices being imposed on the area.
The final film will be a special preview of The Dreaming Bog – a climate change story told through the history of the Peatbogs of Northern Scotland and the Mires of Finland.
The night will finish with a Q&A with campaigners, who will provide an update on the latest developments in the struggle to defend Torry and its park from being built up.
Ric Lander, from Friends of St Fitticks Park and Climate Camp Scotland, said: “Most bystanders would likely be shocked to see how generations of residents in Torry have had their neighbourhood sacrificed to industrial development but that’s what’s happened at Nether Torry, Old Torry and the Bay of Nigg.
“Scotland is building a new energy economy and shifting away from fossil fuels, but this process will only improve lives if it is led by the needs of communities and workers.
“As the future of St. Fittick’s Park hangs in the balance, Torry stands on the frontline of Scotland’s struggle for a just transition away from fossil fuels.”
The free event will take place at 7pm on Saturday. People who would like to attend should register online on Eventbrite.
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