Aberdeenshire Council rejects call to fund Aberdeen South Harbour road project
Aberdeenshire Council has unanimously voted not to borrow £575,000 to fund a city-led transport project at Aberdeen’s South Harbour.
At today’s meeting of Full Council, members agreed not to borrow the significant sum requested from funds allocated to wider Strategic Transport Appraisal work across the north-east.
While fully supporting the delivery of the city road project, it was agreed this should not be funded by Aberdeenshire borrowing at a cost to the council and its residents.
Aberdeenshire Council has always been a full partner, a strong supporter and a fair funder of the Aberdeen City Region Deal programme. It has offered to work with Aberdeen City Council colleagues to seek alternative funding sources to support its project.
Aberdeen City Region Deal (ACRD) is a partnership between Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils and Opportunity North East, which works together to address the economic challenges facing the north east and to capitalise on the substantial opportunities available.
The new transportation link is being progressed by Aberdeen City Council as the local roads authority and aims to improve access to the new Aberdeen South Harbour at the Bay of Nigg.
The project is being jointly funded by both the UK and Scottish Governments as part of the Aberdeen City Region Deal. Preferred road and active travel options have been identified and will feature upgrades to both Coast Road and Hareness Road including a new crossing over the main Aberdeen to Dundee rail line.
Today (Thurs, Feb 20) Aberdeenshire Council was told by officers that the business case for the project highlighted that the core funding required was within the £25million allocated by the Aberdeen City Region Deal.
However, an additional risk to the tune of £1.15million had subsequently been identified that exceeded that agreed funding. To cover this, the ACRD joint committee had proposed to increase the funding by £1.15million to address potential cost increases or unforeseen expenses.
The Joint Committee discussed exploring a reallocation of funds to cover the medium to high-risk costs of the harbour transport project. This decision was confirmed at its meeting on February 14, but there was a request to take a paper back to each council for endorsement.
Talking afterwards, Aberdeenshire Council Leader Cllr Gillian Owen said: “While we remain 100% committed to the City Region Deal and the various projects under development across the north-east including the External Transport Links to Aberdeen South Harbour, we cannot agree to additional monies being transferred for the creation of this new road in the city.
“We have repeatedly sought assurances from Aberdeen City Council officers that this £25million transport link project was on time and on budget, yet we are now being told it requires considerable further investment.
"The cross-chamber view of our council is that the removal of such a significant sum of money from the Strategic Transport Appraisal workstream – which would deliver direct benefits to Aberdeenshire communities in the future – is unacceptable and cannot be supported. We have provided an offer to work with Aberdeen City Council colleagues to seek alternative funding sources.”
Council Depute Leader Cllr Anne Stirling added: “As evidenced by our own financial support for the Aberdeen South Harbour development itself, we very much welcome and encourage investment in the north-east.
"However, as a council we must also do what is right for our region and our residents and we are simply not prepared to invest our share of vital strategic transport investment into a city project which we have continually been reassured would be delivered within budget.
“We are all too aware of the incredible financial challenges and risks posed to major capital projects, but there is absolutely no guarantee that the transfer of this additional £1.15million would mitigate the risk to this project and see it through to completion – particularly given that neither discussions around land ownership along the route have yet to be completed nor has the project even gone out to tender.”