CLIMATE activists have threatened to return to Aberdeen to protest against plans to build an Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) after occupying a park over the weekend.
The group set up camp in St Fittick’s Park in the Torry area of the city on Thursday, a third of which could be used to develop the industrial zone.
Around 100 protesters also blocked the entrance to a nearby waste to energy incinerator alleged by locals to be causing pollution during the five-day occupation.
Billionaire businessman Sir Ian Wood is the chairman of the ETZ board, which also includes representatives of Shell, the North Sea Transition Authority and Scottish Enterprise.
But the plans are opposed by local residents and climate campaigners, some of whom have accused the developers of promoting a “greenwashing exercise” they argue is reliant on “unproven” technology.
Activists are understood to be leaving the camp this morning but have said they will return if the scheme gets the go-ahead following a court decision.
Marlow Bushman, a local Torry resident and member of the Aberdeen Climate Coalition, said: “As a Torry local, it means so much to see people from across Scotland and Europe come here united, to show solidarity with the fight to save St Fittick’s Park.
“The fossil fuel industry has been trying to set a precedent for how it can treat the people of Torry, polluting our air and paving over our parks. This time, with the cheap veneer of greenwashing.
“Though Climate Camp leaves St Fittick’s on Monday, our energy remains high, as the fight continues. This park belongs to the community, not the ETZ.”
Rosie, a climate activist from the Highlands, said: “The end of camp does not mean the end of our active solidarity with Torry.
“The camp this year has been a great success, but if the so-called ‘Energy Transition Zone’ goes ahead, we will be back.
“We will stand with the people of Torry against the destruction of their park.”
A judicial review on the ETZ proposal is expected at the end of this month at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
Local campaigners in Aberdeen are understood to be planning a protest in the capital, together with climate camp activists.
An ETZ spokesperson said last week they were “committed to enhancing wider green spaces in proximity” to the planned scheme which would be completed in collaboration with the local community.
They added: “This will include significant improvements to St Fittick’s Park, Tullos woods and the coastal path corridor as part of the project’s wider regeneration ambitions.”
