Devastated business leaders say many Aberdeen traders are now “at risk of going under” after council chiefs voted to keep city centre traffic bans.
Ahead of an emergency meeting today, scores of city centre firms pleaded for councillors to do away with several of the unpopular bus gates blamed for plummeting footfall.
Instead, the SNP and Liberal Democrat group in charge voted only to “look into” removing some of the traffic bans that have decimated city centre trade.
And a pledge to lift the restriction at The Adelphi, temporarily, to make way for construction traffic at the new market came as little solace.
What had campaigners hoped for?
Over the past several weeks, local businesses and organisations have joined forces with The Press and Journal to put forward alternate Common Sense Compromise proposals.
These have been described as the “minimum” needed to help businesses survive.
By the time today’s meeting got under way, almost 11,000 had backed those plans for far-reaching changes, which would have seen the gates on Market Street and Bridge Street scrapped straight away.
So what did the SNP and Lib Dem council leaders vote through?
Council leaders opted only to investigate the potential removal of bus gates on Bridge Street in one or both directions, while looking into allowing traffic to turn right from Union Terrace once again.
There was no clear indication given on how long these studies could take, though leaders hope they will be conducted “as soon as possible”.
Meanwhile, the bus gate at The Adelphi on Union Street will be removed.
But it will just be lifted on a temporary basis, during the construction of the new Aberdeen Market.
And traffic will only be able to turn left at the bottom of Market Street, on to Trinity Quay.
Tory Richard Brooks, who led calls for the Common Sense Compromise to be adopted in full, branded the moves as “damage limitation and face-saving” in the face of furious public backlash.
The full set of Common Sense Compromise proposals included:
- Keeping the Guild Street bus gates, along with restrictions on Schoolhill and Upperkirkgate – which was agreed
- Remove the bus gates at the Adelphi and Market Street, allowing access in both directions through Market Street – which was not accepted
- Remove the bus gates on Bridge Street, allowing full access in both directions – which will be investigated
- Remove the right turn ban on Union Terrace – also to be investigated
- Issue a warning rather than a fine to first offenders – council co-leader Ian Yuill argued this had been done when the bus gates were installed
- Use fines to help city-centre businesses via transport initiatives – Mr Yuill said there are legal rules around how it can be spent
What was the reaction?
Victoria Mutch, who runs the Style For Your Shape clothes store on Schoolhill, previously told us how she had plundered her savings to keep her business alive – and axed Dundee expansion plans.
Speaking after the meeting, Victoria said: “What they have proposed isn’t enough.
“They have blatantly ignored the call for action and instead proposed an even longer delay to ‘look into’ options, time which businesses simply don’t have.
“It shouldn’t be this difficult to try and run a successful business in Aberdeen city centre.”
‘The city council has today let down the city traders’
Meanwhile, Aberdeeen Inspired chief executive Adrian Watson added: “We are hugely disappointed the council has refused to listen to traders and businesses’ plea to immediately lift the chokehold of the bus gates.
“Struggling businesses needed a Common Sense Compromise reached today, instead the council has kicked it into the long grass, other than a minor concession on the Market Street bus gate that simply doesn’t go far enough.”
He warned: “Traders don’t have the luxury of time to wait for more feasibility studies. They wanted and needed action today.
“The city council has today let down the city traders, put many of them at risk of going under and jeopardised the future of the heart of Aberdeen.”
And the improvement group’s business engagement and development manager, Danuta Dobrzanska, said she was left “sad” as she watched the proceedings.
She added: “Unfortunately, they [the administration] didn’t listen. They didn’t listen to the city centre businesses, they didn’t listen to 11,000 people supporting this solution.”
Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Russell Borthwick, said: “We made a direct appeal to the SNP and Lib Dem administration ahead of this meeting – adopt the Common Sense Compromise and restore confidence in our city centre.
“They chose to ignore us – and the 11,000 citizens who backed our proposal and demanded change.
“For the sake of our city centre, we hope the councillors are right and everyone else is wrong.”
What was the vote on Aberdeen bus gates?
Opposition Labour and Conservative groups argued for the Common Sense Compromise to be voted through.
But ultimately, the SNP and Lib Dem administration pushed through their proposals, with 20 votes, against the opposition’s 10. There were six abstentions.
The Press and Journal requested a record of how each councillor voted, but Aberdeen City Council has not supplied this information.
The meeting can be viewed at this link.
You can still back our Aberdeen bus gate campaign, by adding your name to the petition launched by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce HERE.
Other ways to show your support and have your voice heard can be found HERE.
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