The hopes of scores of traders and thousands of Aberdeen residents have been shattered as “delusional” council leaders today voted to make controversial city centre bus gates permanent.
The traffic measures were voted through by Aberdeen’s all but one of the SNP and Lib Dem ruling group after months of debates and delays.
The move came after almost 12,000 residents backed a petition led by The Press and Journal and business leaders begging for traders to be shown some mercy.
Labour and Tory groups put their differences aside to join the Common Sense Compromise campaign, but were eventually outvoted following hours of intense debate.
Council co-leader Christian Allard provoked fury as he defended claims that the city centre was dying by highlighting a Lego dinosaur event.
And in a shocking twist, former SNP council leader Alex Nicoll went against party lines by refusing to vote on the traffic measures – unconvinced by any legal argument in their favour.
What will change in the city centre?
Although the bus gates will be made permanent, one small change has been voted through.
The contentious right-turn ban from Union Terrace onto Rosemount Viaduct has been axed, against the recommendations of council officers.
They had previously warned that removing the prohibition “could have safety disbenefits for active travel users and potentially negative impacts on bus journey times and reliability in the future”.
Lib Dem co-leader Ian Yuill said: “We do that saying that there will be an impact on traffic levels, but we believe those are acceptable.”
And plans were also set in motion to use bus gate fines to fund the return of a night bus service, connecting the city and Aberdeenshire.
The service was cut in October 2018 but was run over the festive period last year.
Linking “key destinations across the city and into Aberdeenshire”, the late-night service will be funded by up to £200,000 of bus gate fine cash.
Council holds firm position over possible legal challenges
Much of today’s meeting was shrouded in secrecy, over external legal advice the council had received with regards to the bus gates.
The public and press gallery was emptied, as the first half-hour of the meeting was spent looking over the advice which opposition councillors fought for the right to see last week.
Paper copies of the top-secret document were handed over to group leaders, accompanied by strict demands those copies be handed back.
But it was revealed that, six hours after the discussions had ended, one copy was still missing…
The council’s interim legal chief, Alan Thomson, was later grilled over the intricacies of the document.
Councillor Gordon Graham queried if “there was any legal weakness” in the way the council had implemented the bus gates.
And Mr Thomson’s answer was short and straight: “No.”
Bus gates fine cash revealed
One bombshell that came out of today’s meeting was the total sum the council has raised from bus gate and lane fines.
The last figures released showed that the council had sent out more than £3 million worth of bus gate fines to motorists between last November and June.
But the total pot was revealed today, at the request of councillor Kate Blake.
In total, as of the end of March, the council had raked in £4.2m from bus gate and lane fines since their introduction.
Council hails Lego dinosaurs… whilst businesses crumble
SNP council co-leader Christian Allard angered opponents by claiming he was “ticking off” the various requests made under the compromise campaign – while voting to banjax all but one of them.
And whilst defending claims that the city centre was dying, Mr Allard gave a bizarre rebuttal.
The co-council leader shouted in the chambers: “We should get out and roam the streets, we should roam the streets and roar…
“Why roar? Because we have the Lego dinosaur trail launching in the city centre this weekend.”
Puzzled looks dawned on the faces of the opposition, while independent councillor Barney Crockett offered a scathing response.
Mr Crockett stated: “You couldn’t have a more appropriate model for the administration (than a dinosaur).
“Enormous but limited intelligence.”
‘He learns nothing and forgets nothing’
The former Lord Provost added: “He commends a compromise of a compromise. What was put in the Common Sense Compromise wasn’t the full position of what businesses wanted. It was their compromise.
“So they get a very small part of that and are told they should be very, very happy about that.
“Councillor Allard reminds me of the French king, of whom it was said he learns nothing and forgets nothing.”
Mr Allard later told the Press and Journal that city centre supporters should “be roaring all weekend”.
He said: “I will be in Aberdeen city centre tomorrow with my grandchildren because it’s the start of the dinosaur trail.
“We are doing a lot of events in this city centre to attract families to the city centre. So come and roar with me tomorrow.”
‘Delusional’ council have ignored businesses cries for help
Victoria Mutch was one of the key voices behind The P&J’s Common Sense Compromise campaign.
Her Schoolhill boutique, Style for your Shape, is one of many businesses that have been hit hard by bus gates.
She stayed up until 3am whilst visiting Australia to hear the council’s decision on Aberdeen’s bus gates, and has described the fiasco as “soul-destroying”.
Victoria said: “Councillors who voted to make it permanent are clearly delusional.
“They have showed little empathy to the impact this is having and will continue to have on businesses in the city centre and the overall economy of our city.”
The boutique owner continued: “It’s now an embarrassment how they have bulldozed this through and they’re not making Aberdeen an attractive place to shop, visit or to have a business.
“As a business owner whose business was thriving prior to these traffic measures, even in a post-Covid environment, it has been soul-destroying seeing factors outside of my control undo all the determination and hard work to make the business a success.”
Aberdeen bus gate decision ‘made without the right research’
Adrian Watson, the chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, added: “This is a decision that flies in the face of desperate pleas from struggling city centre businesses and a call from almost 12,000 members of the public to find a Common Sense Compromise.
“It is a decision that has been made without a relevant economic impact survey on how the city centre and the people who trade there will be affected by these traffic measures.
“The council is driving blindly along a road without any clear idea of where it will end up.”
North East Tory MSP Liam Kerr said: “This deplorable decision marks a dark day for Aberdeen city centre.
“The vote was a chance to show Aberdeen is open for businesses and that there is light at the end of the tunnel for suffering city centre traders.”
Why has final decision on Aberdeen’s bus gates taken so long?
It has been a long and winding road to reach the final decision over Aberdeen’s bus gates.
It was originally expected that a decision would be made in early July. But constant delays have meant that it’s taken three months to come to a verdict.
Just last week, councillors ran out of time to debate the traffic measures after a six-hour row over the future of Catholic schooling in Aberdeen.
What had campaigners hoped for?
Over the past several months, local businesses and organisations 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 12,000 had backed those plans for far-reaching changes, which would have seen the gates on Market Street and Bridge Street scrapped straight away.
The SNP and Lib Dems have adopted only two of the suggested compromise changes.
The Common Sense Compromise
In June, we came up with six points which traders felt was needed for businesses to survive.
The group’s Common Sense Compromise called for:
- Keep the Guild Street bus gates, along with restrictions on Schoolhill and Upperkirkgate
- Remove the bus gates at the Adelphi and Market Street, allowing access in both directions through Market Street
- Remove the bus gates on Bridge Street, allowing full access in both directions
- Remove the right turn ban on Union Terrace
- Issue a warning rather than a fine to first offenders
- Use fines to help city centre businesses via transport initiatives
Read more:
Conversation