Rebecca Buchan: Bring back city centre bans to keep Aberdeen safe

I have developed a fondness for the social media platform TikTok.

I am sure my other half would assure me this is not a healthy, ahem, obsession. But the algorithm is just so good.

Not only have I found the best recipes, hotels, travel destinations and skincare routines, but it also keeps me updated on the local scandals in and around Aberdeen.

And for the most part, my evening scrolls are nothing but light-hearted entertainment.

But, in recent months there has been more of a concerning undertone to the videos that happen to find their way onto my screen.

For some time I had been aware of one Aussie influencer Lucy Holz.

With a modest following of around 130,000, I wasn’t sure why she had appeared on my feed so frequently, but when she started her backpacking journey around Europe I was interested in following along.

I watched her travel the continent and gush about most places she visited. Don’t get me wrong there was the odd dodgy hostel or two but, on the whole, she seemed to be loving her trip.

That was until she reached Aberdeen.

She said: “Today, I’m in scary Aberdeen. It is not a nice place to be, but nonetheless, I’m here for a whole day so I’m doing some exploring.

“There are a lot of drug users around and they are displaying a lot of erratic and aggressive behaviour; always something you need to be just super aware of.”

I would love to say I was shocked by her opinions of my fair city, but it was actually just more of what I have been hearing for almost two years now.

It is true Aberdeen has been hit economically in recent years following an oil and gas downturn and then the onset of Covid.

How do we work on Aberdeen’s regeneration when it’s not safe to walk the streets?

This naturally has had a massive impact on the state of our high street.

But how are we supposed to revive our city centre, fill our empty units and attract new visitors if people are scared to walk the streets?

I walk into work down Union Street every morning I head to the office and it is not a pretty sight.

The pavements are littered with antisocial behaviour.

Groups congregate, drunk, outside Marks and Spencer from early on in the day and empty shopfronts house people huddled together smoking or taking drugs. Youths, loitering around the nearest vape shop, terrorise passersby.

And all of this in plain sight.

Within days of the £30 million revamp of Union Terrace Garden, there were complaints of teens fighting within it.

Proof, if any was needed, that no matter how much is spent on making things look shiny and new, until the underlying issues are fixed the city will remain in decline.

Our Union Street, the group formed to try to reverse the city centre’s decline, can make a difference, of course it can.

But its powers are limited.

Pre-Covid dispersal zones significantly reduced anti-social behaviour

In 2019 Police Scotland put in place a dispersal zone in order to try to tackle anti-social behaviour. It allowed officers to remove people, or even ban them, from the area if they were causing a nuisance.

Within three months police said this reduced the number of incidents significantly – so much so – it was considered no longer a priority for such an order to be in place.

It has never returned.

I am told such legislation, and the imposition of the likes of ASBOs, are considered a last resort and there are no plans to reinstate them at the moment.

But, answer me this, how bad do things need to get before it’s so bad? The time is now to revisit these.

While we watch as store after store closes its doors, an army of volunteers can go and sweep the streets, but until residents and visitors alike feel safe to walk them we are fighting a losing battle.

While millions are spent on the city centre, it’s evident that these bad impressions are proving costly.

And such reputational damage can have such clear implications for the city’s economy.

How many of Lucy Holz’s Tik Tok followers will be planning a trip to Aberdeen?

Of course, compassion is needed in getting people the help they need if they are in the grip of drink and drug addiction.

But this will take time.

And, with Aberdeen’s city centre needing all the help it can get, can we afford to wait?

Rebecca Buchan is deputy head of news and sport for The Press and Journal and Evening Express