SNP Responds to Ian Tait's U-Turn over Saltoun Square

Commenting on the u-turn by Fraserburgh & District Independent councillor Ian Tait and his withdraw of two Motions which he put forward for the Full Council meeting of Aberdeenshire Council, Shadow Leader of the Council Hamish Vernal said:

"All Council Committees need to have a procedure for dealing with urgent items of business. I'm pleased that the right of the Banff and Buchan Area Committee to take the decision in the manner it did has now been accepted publicly by Cllr Tait.

"Standing Orders should be reviewed regularly as a matter of good practice, and that is what is already underway through the Council's Procedures Committee. This is the correct way to proceed. If Standing Orders are to be changed, it must be based on proper and reasoned consideration and not just in response to one individual gripe."

Troup councillor and member of the Banff & Buchan Area Committee Hamish Partridge said:

“It seems Cllr Tait is trying to rewrite history with his take on what happened at the meeting of the Full Council.

“The fact of the matter is, he withdrew both of his Motions, probably because he knew full well that he would struggle to get anyone to second them, let alone vote for them.

“Once again Cllr Tait has gone about things in a manner which is more likely to antagonise people rather than persuade them of his arguments. Meanwhile, my SNP councillor colleagues in Fraserburgh are attempting to put forward the best possible case for funding for upgrading the Council building at Saltoun Square by building consensus, which is how these things should be done.”

Under Item 3 of the Full Council agenda, Cllr Tait had two motions for debate, arising from his unhappiness at a decision taken by the Banff and Buchan Area Committee on 28 January to relocate future meetings of the Committee from the Council Chambers in Fraserburgh to the town's Sports and Community Centre for a period of six months.

Cllr Tait withdrew his first motion prior to the meeting which if passed, would have allowed the Banff and Buchan Area Committee to revisit its decision.

Following debate, Cllr Tait also withdrew his second motion, after accepting an amendment from Council Leader Jim Gifford to take no further action on the grounds that there was already a review ongoing by Aberdeenshire Council's Procedures Committee of the Council's Standing Orders.