At this week’s budget meeting Aberdeen’s Liberal Democrat councillors proposed investing in education, protecting the city’s libraries, abolishing the Garden Tax, repairing crumbling roads and pavements and enhancing Aberdeen’s environment at Aberdeen City Council’s budget meeting.

Liberal Democrat Group Leader Ian Yuill said: “The Liberal Democrats’ priorities are education, the environment and repairing Aberdeen’s crumbling roads and pavements.

“Our proposals create a £1 million Education Fund, abolish the hated Garden Tax and invest in properly maintaining Aberdeen’s roads and pavements. Things that affect the whole city. It is important that the council gets the basics right.”

Key points of the Liberal Democrats’ budget proposals included:

• Creating a £1 million Education Fund to enhance educational opportunities across Aberdeen.
• Abolishing the Garden Tax, the unpopular charge made to collect residents’ garden waste from brown bins.
• Investing an extra £9.5 million over five years in repairing roads and pavements across Aberdeen. This would pay to resurface over 50 miles of road surface.
• Investing in improving Aberdeen’s environment – including tree planting, enhancing biodiversity and decarbonising the council’s fleet of lorries, vans and cars by 2030.
• Investigating the feasibility of planting rose beds at key points alongside Anderson Drive.
• Investigating generating green energy using ground source heat pumps in council playing fields and parks.
• A 3.74% increase in council tax.

Ian Yuill said, “Despite the savage cuts forced on the council by the SNP Scottish Government, the Liberal Democrat have managed to focus resources on our priorities of education, the environment and repairing Aberdeen’s roads and pavements.”