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.

Council to consider veto of Aberdeen’s business improvement district at urgent meeting next week

Aberdeen Inspired chief executive Adrian Watson and council co-leader Jenny Laing in Belmont Street.
Aberdeen Inspired chief executive Adrian Watson and council co-leader Jenny Laing in Belmont Street.

An urgent meeting of Aberdeen councillors will be held next week to discuss the future of the city’s business improvement district (Bid).

Set up after a ballot of potential members in 2011, the Bid – overseen by Aberdeen Inspired – must be renewed every five years by its levy-payers.

Qualifying business properties in the designated area – stretching the length of Union Street and from John Street to Union Square – pay a levy to fund its activities to increase trade, though the company also receives funding from the council for its work.

Tuesday’s meeting is a first step towards renewal, though councillors do hold the power to veto the need for the poll – effectively bringing the 10-year project to an end.

However, the nine-member urgent business committee is thought to be unlikely to swing the axe next week.

Aberdeen City Council business manager, Conservative Ryan Houghton, said: “An urgent business meeting has been called to determine if the council is agreeable to allowing Bid members the opportunity to determine if they wish the Bid to continue for another five years or otherwise.

“Even though Aberdeen City Council is a Bid member it would be dangerous and undemocratic if the council unilaterally took a decision not to allow others the opportunity to determine if they wish the Bid to continue or otherwise.

“I am positive council members on the urgent business committee will agree to allow Bid members that opportunity.”

His administration will have a five-to-four majority at the meeting.

Council co-leader Jenny Laing is on the Aberdeen Inspired board, while fellow Aberdeen Labour councillor Ross Grant is employed as the company’s senior project manager – though both have excused themselves from voting on similar matters before.

Aberdeen City Council is a Bid member itself, and will have a vote along with other city businesses should the ballot go ahead.

Its input in the potential ballot would be agreed at the full council meeting scheduled for March.

But last night SNP group leader, Alex Nicoll, criticised the decision on a ballot being taken by urgent business, instead pushing for all members to have a say now.

He said: “I am disappointed that once again the administration would rather push important decisions like this to the urgent business committee when we literally had a meeting of full council on December 14.

“I will be writing to the business manager and lord provost to request that a special meeting of council be convened to allow all elected members to take part in the decision making around the future of Aberdeen Inspired.”