St Fittick's: Community wellbeing more important than corporate profits
The campaign to save St Fittick’s Community Park in Torry, Aberdeen, is about putting community wellbeing ahead of corporate profits, said the Scottish Green MSP for North East Scotland, Maggie Chapman.
Ms Chapman was speaking ahead of a Court of Session Judicial Review hearing in Edinburgh on the controversial plans to build a so-called Energy Transition Zone on St Fittick’s Community Park – the last green space in Torry, Aberdeen.
Ms Chapman has supported the community-led campaign to save the park, has hosted a debate about its future in the Scottish Parliament, and has called for Scottish Ministers to intervene to protect it.
Torry is a working class area in Aberdeen that has borne the brunt of the uneven development and inequalities caused by the oil and gas industry for over 50 years.
Ms Chapman, who will be attending a rally outside the Court this morning, said: “I am proud to stand with community campaigners and to support the Judicial Review that they have secured.
“The park is an important place for a lot of people and for nature. The damaging and reckless proposal that would destroy the last green space in Torry is part of an unjust corporate land grab.
“Torry contains some of the worst deprivation in Aberdeen, with life expectancy in the area over a decade lower than in other parts of the city. Losing St Fittick’s will be detrimental for residents’ health and wellbeing, as well for social and environmental justice.
“We must put community wellbeing ahead of corporate profits and protect our green spaces. The loss of St Fittick’s Park does not stack up as part of the just transition we need in Scotland."