Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay today took aim at Aberdeen City Council’s ruling SNP-Liberal Democrat group for being too “pig headed” to see the damage being caused by the city’s unpopular bus gates.
The Conservative MSP waded into the row during a two-day visit to the Granite City.
In an interview with the P&J, he described the scheme as “completely and utterly bonkers” and said it should be scrapped.
“You’ve got an SNP administration in Aberdeen that seems to be cooking up inventive ways to turn the screws on retailers and on hospitality”, he said.
“It’s ridiculous. It begs the question: what are they trying to achieve?
“Because it’s not going to make any meaningful impact on the environment.”
Traders reached a milestone this week in their fight against the bus gates that have been blamed for a string of shop closures in the city centre.
A crowdfunder was launched last month in a bid to raise £35,000 which would be used to take the local authority to court over the controversial measures.
Now, three weeks after it launched, the target has been met, bringing business owners a step closer to launching a legal challenge.
‘They should scrap it’
Mr Findlay said: “They should scrap it. I don’t know if it’s pride. I don’t know if it’s arrogance.
“But they must know if they’re listening to people in the city, this is completely wrong-headed, harmful to the economy and it’s the last thing retailers need.”
He accused the ruling council group of being “so pig-headed they cannot see the damage they’re doing”.
Aberdeen City Council’s SNP leader Christian Allard hit back at Mr Findlay saying Tory councillors previously backed the pedestrianisation of Union Street, which required bus gates to facilitate its implementation, back when they ran the council.
He added: “We are working hard to regenerate our city centre, with over £100 million of investment, the empty shops action plan, empty shops grant scheme, all while working with partners to ensure Aberdeen is a place people want to live, work, raise a family and invest.”
Mr Allard accused the Scottish Tory leader of “talking down our city centre” days after the success of the Spectra Festival, which attracted more than 100,000 visitors.Â
A96 dualling
Mr Findlay also attended a party campaign event by the A96 near Inverurie.
He demanded the full dualling of the route to connect Aberdeen and Inverness.
The SNP government say their “current favoured position” is to fully dual the route, with work being progressed on the Inverness to Nairn stretch.
But they ordered a review of the scheme which recently reported back and made the case against fully dualling the road, with a public consultation under way.Â
The Scottish Tory leader accused the government of being “disingenuous”.
He said: “I don’t think they want to dual the road. I think they’re looking at every excuse and delay possible in order to avoid doing so.”
Read more:Â
- What next as Aberdeen bus gate crowdfunder smashes £35k target?Â
- Exclusive: Aberdeen bus gates lawyer calls council’s bluff with challenge to reveal ‘hidden’ legal adviceÂ
- Council ‘not concerned’ about legal threat over Aberdeen bus gates – as totally disrespectful’ leaders ‘stick two fingers up to the public’Â
- Aberdeen’s SNP council leader vows to keep bus gates and tells critics ‘we will be judged at the elections’Â
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