Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Friends of St Fittick’s Park campaigners hold protest during Humza Yousaf’s Aberdeen visit

The group welcomed the new first minister with banners stating "Hauns Affa Torry".

Protestors gathered with banners to share their views with the new first minister during his visit to Aberdeen on Tuesday. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.
Protestors gathered with banners to share their views with the new first minister during his visit to Aberdeen on Tuesday. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

Campaigners from Friends of St Fittick’s Park held a protest during First Minister Humza Yousaf’s first visit to Aberdeen since becoming first minister.

Mr Yousaf was joined by Mairi McAllen MSP, the new net zero secretary, at the Port of Aberdeen South Harbour on Tuesday to see the progress of its ongoing expansion.

The project will provide greater deepwater access and quayside space to support the energy transition.

He also announced multi-million pound support to help accelerate Scotland’s just transition during the visit.

However, the campaign group gathered to highlight that it is “far from a just transition” and is instead “a corporate grab”.

Campaigners want Mr Yousaf to talk directly to communities. Image: Friends of St Fittick’s Park.

They welcomed the new first minister with banners stating “Hauns Affa Torry” and “Torry is not a disposable community”, and loudly chanted ‘Whose land, our land, whose park, our park’, referring to St Fittick’s Community Park.

‘Must meet communities directly’

One campaigner called out Mr Yousaf asking why he was prioritising meeting business leaders rather than communities.

Friends of St Fittick’s Park campaigner, Scott Herrett, said: “If they are really committed to bringing about a just transition for the north-east of Scotland, then they must meet directly and listen to the voices of people in communities, like Torry, and oil and gas workers, rather than the one-sided story given by the corporate elite.

First Minister Humza Yousaf at the Port of Aberdeen on Tuesday. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

“If they did, then they would hear a real just transition includes protecting
our life-giving greenspaces and not sacrificing them for half-baked plans.

“A real ‘just’ Energy Transition Zone would include mass retrofitting of peoples’ homes in Torry, making them warm, dry and affordable to heat, thus transforming lives.”

‘Torry will pay the price’

Ms McAllan took some time to talk to the campaigners, so they were able to share their concerns about “the threat to the health and wellbeing of the community” from the South Harbour development and proposed destruction of St Fittick’s Park.

Campaigner Ishbel Shand said: “It was another demonstration of the corporate capture of energy transition, underlining the great power imbalance that exists in Scotland.

Mairi McAllen spoke directly to campaigners on Tuesday. Image: Friends of St Fittick’s Park.

“Our thanks go to Mairi McAllan for her courtesy in coming to speak to us. We hope she will keep her word and look into the situation here in the north-east.

“If she does, she will find that what is planned is a land-grab by vested interests promoting flawed technologies that will enable them to retain their wealth and power.

“The price Torry will pay if they succeed is the exacerbation of already unacceptable health inequalities, the loss of its last accessible green space and a further erosion of trust in government.”

Conversation