Willie Young admits Travellers' site could be elsewhere than Bridge of Don - Aberdeenshire

From STV

Aberdeen City councillor, Willie Young, has defended his handling, and that of the local authority, on the controversial creation of a new Travellers' site in the city.

Cllr Young, who faced accusations of having betrayed his constituents at a stormy meeting of the Bridge of Don Community Council on Tuesday evening, told STV that nothing was "set in stone" as regards the location for the Travellers' amenity.

A decision on the issue has been deferred until a full council meeting on March 6, but Young insisted that he grasped why Aberdeen residents were concerned about the matter.

He said: "I fully understand the concerns of the people of Bridge of Don, because the public, generally, don't want Travellers on their doorstep.

"We knew that would be the case, but we have a duty to tackle these issues and we are not running the city for ourselves, but for the good of the whole city.

"On March 6, everybody will have a chance to air their views, and there could still be an alternative site to the one proposed at Bridge of Don if that is the preference of the majority.

"Basically, this gives us a bit of breathing space. Nothing is set in stone at the moment."

Cllr Young maintained that moves towards establishing a permanent site were necessary to curb current infractions by Travellers, and claimed they were in Aberdeen's long-term interest.

He added: "Our twin-pronged strategy will help both residents and Travellers. We will have a by-law, which would make illegal camping in parks and elsewhere a criminal offence.

"But we will also have a permanent location which would meet the needs of Travellers. The worst thing would be if we did nothing and allowed the present confusion to continue."