Today Councillors gathered at Woodhill House for a meeting of Full Council.
Prior to the agenda, the Provost paid tribute to former Huntly Councillor Al Ross who sadly died earlier in the month, and also commended the local athletes who competed at the Commonwealth Games.

Proceedings began with a Planning Application for Full Planning Permission for the Construction of a 400/275KV Electricity Substation & Switchgear Building and Fence without Compliance with Condition 1 (Landscaping) of Planning Permision APP/2014/3443 at Rothienorman.
There was little discussion required on this one, which passed unanimously.

The second item saw Councillors asked to approved a Council Position Statement on the A96 Aberdeen-Inverness dualling.
My view on this has been clear for some time, I am a supporter of Option Q which sees the road follow the route of the A947 possibly (much needed) by-passing Oldmeldrum and Newmachar.
The statement we were asked to approve states “it is essential that all viable route options as far north as the A947 and A920, including Option Q, remain under consideration at this stage and are included within the DMRB Stage 2 Assessment . . . . it could aid economic development opportunities associated with enhanced access to the strategic road network for communities and businesses to the north and north east of the current A96 and A947 road corridors”.
The statement then goes on to discuss relieving traffic pressures in the area to the North of Inverurie/Oldmeldrum.
Interestingly when the document was discussed at Area Committees every single one favoured Option Q.
The statement was welcomed by everyone except the DIG Group, with Cllr Ford proposing an amendment seconded by Cllr Johnston to effectively cancel the dualling and not give it our support.  Interestingly the movement of the motion included their view the A947 does not need to be dualled at all – I could not disagree more.
At the vote, the Statement as worded by officers was approved 67 votes to 2.

We then moved on to the update on the Culture and Sport Business Unit – a concept I am completely in favor of, and have supported at Communites Committee.
This report promises another report to Communites Committee on 31st May on the setting up of a sub-committee to oversee Culture and Sport – with external membership and decision making powers.
The strategic direction and scrutiny will still sit with the Councillors on the Communities Committee, who will receive an annual performance report as well as having a “pause clause” if unsatisfactory events unfold.
This vehicle will also have the objective of raising funds to support the health and wellbeing, learning and regeneration aims of the Business Unit.
There will be an open advertisement for interested parties to come on board, and a procedure to establish the group – and this will be phased in from June 2018.
The success of this is paramount, as one of the Council Priorities is “Encourage active lifestyles and promote well-being with a focus on obesity and mental health”.
Cllr Ford promoted an amendment to ensure that the Chair of the sub-committee should be a Councillor not an external appointee, however I don’t share his view as it is important the best person for the job should get that job – and we dont want to be in a position where we are saying “come and join us, but we don’t trust you to be the chair”.
Thankfully, the amendment was voted down by 44 votes to 25.

Next on the agenda were two strategy documents – one for Culture then for Sport for the period 2018-2028.
I welcome both of these very well written documents based on the recent engagement “The Big Listen”.
It will of course be up to the Business Unit Sub-Committee mentioned in the previous paragraph to ensure these are adhered to – but I would encourage all Culture and Sport Service Users to give the documents a read.

Item nine on the agenda saw us draw to a close the long, drawn-out process of identifying the Council’s Office Space Strategy.  A strategy that was born during a discussion on the state of Gordon House as an Area Office around five years ago.
Under the previous administration, plans were proposed to move to a new Headquarters in Inverurie, although things have moved on – and circumstances have moved on.
The plan now is to share Woodhill House in Aberdeen with the NHS and hopefully Police Scotland ensuring it becomes a ‘public sector hub’ – while we will also have more appropriate and modern offices in Stonehaven, Ellon and Inverurie.
In Stonehaven we would refurbish offices in Viewmount, while releasing Carlton House and office space in Arduthie School, while providing a public-facing service point at Allardice Street.
At Ellon, the council will release all existing offices and consolidate in a new office to be built on the site of the former academy in the town.
In Inverurie, the town hall will be refurbished and extended to provide offices for staff as well as a service point.
Inverurie’s Gordon House will then be released. This will bring 450 staff from Blackhall Road directly into the town centre where (unlike at Gordon House or the previously proposed Harlaw) they are more likely to invest in local shops and cafes – and use public transport.
There will also be a new car park constructed on the site of the former Market Place School which can be used by members of the public at weekends and during school holidays.
Council office staff can work flexibly, depending on the needs of the service they deliver and the community they serve. Part of the plans include wider dispersal of staff across Aberdeenshire who can utilise office space and hot desks in offices and locations in all towns across the area.
The office space strategy is based on a sustainable financial model i.e. this is not new money as savings will be generated from the disposal of old properties, and through the modern, cost efficiency of new buildings – saving on large repairs and maintenance, in particular on Gordon House in Inverurie. The preferred option retains Woodhill House with a large income stream of both existing and potential new tenants.
The new strategy redeploys 147 staff who used Gordon House as their ‘base’ to other Council offices, the leader of the opposition during the week had been flagging up the loss of these jobs to Inverurie, what he didnt reference was that 91 of these jobs are being moved to Ellon (the constituency he represents).
21 Staff are relocated to Woodhill House, while 49 go to Stonehaven.
The plans will see the following number of staff in each location:
• Inverurie – 450
• Woodhill – 800
• Stonehaven – 245
• Ellon – 163
• Peterhead – 183
The Leader of the Opposition did put the motion to a vote, with his amendment asking for a pause to allow a further option to be investigation, however this would add unnecessary delay to an already overdue project – and thankfully this amendent fell after a vote 43-25 in favour of the Inverurie Town Hall option.
THIS IS A GOOD NEWS STORY FOR THE TOWNS CONCERNED! and was a milestone in the journey to have offices suitable for council staff, and gives certainty as officers seek to turn the plans into a reality, and a message to the NHS and Police Scotland that we welcome their input to a Public Sector Hub in Aberdeen.

On less momentous matters, Item 10 saw us appoint Cllr Colin Pike as a substitute member of the Aberdeen City Region Deal Joint Committee.

Finally, before moving into private session three questions were entertained from Cllrs Alan Buchan and Cllr Evison.  THe responses from officers were quite clear and concise.

After the Private items, we bid farewell to the Director of Education and Childrens Services Ms Maria Walker, who is retiring after a long and successful career.  I wish her a very enjoyable retirement and thank her for her help on education matters since I cme into post last May.  A very good Director who will be greatly missed by Councillors and Officers.