Lindsay Bruce: Sheila McDonald's tragic death shines spotlight on reality of Torry Raac scandal

Press and Journal

2 days ago

The reality and the why behind our Trapped by Raac campaign has hit home in recent weeks.
We recently lost one of our campaign stalwarts.
Sheila McDonald, previously featured alongside husband George in our coverage, suffered a heart attack and died in the home she's been fighting to save.
The couple had just celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary and are among throngs of defiant homeowners standing their ground to get fair prices for their Raac-riddled homes.
The retired pair have never missed a protest. They've attended every community meeting. Both George and Sheila's faces are even on our Trapped by Raac poster.
They epitomise why we launched the campaign in the first place; Because every day, honest, hard-working people aren't able to enjoy their lives – or their retirements – while the injustice of Raac is quite literally hanging over their heads.
So I felt it impossible to let her loss pass, without paying tribute to her, and to acknowledge the Sheila-shaped hole in her community.
I dropped my phone when the text arrived from George to let me know Sheila had passed.
Just days before, we carried a report from Torry doctor Adrian Crofton about the long-term impact stress is having on the hearts and minds of the good people of Balnagask.
Less than a week earlier I saw Sheila at the White Cockade where I joked with her that she was 'Torry famous' when she held up a poster bearing her own image.
And it wasn't even a fortnight since I'd sat in George and Sheila's living room listening to them speak about how they felt their fate had been decided by seemingly uncaring councillors, scrolling on their phones.
Sheila told me that day that her blood pressure was 'through the roof'. No wonder, I thought.
As news spread in Torry about Sheila's death at the start of May, I kept hearing the same remarks.
'She was so faithful to the Torry Community Raac Campaign.'
The reality of that filled me with such sadness.
The last 18 months of Sheila's life have been encased in Raac.
'I wish I'd never retired,' she told me, because she felt her beautiful home was no longer a place of peace.
When we ask for signatures and support – this is why.
The lived reality for the 500+ households in Balnagask who had the Raac crisis thrust upon them, is so far from peaceful. For many it's at times more of a living agony.
Through no fault of their own.
These are grandparents, aunts and uncles. They're mums and dads. They're someone's grown-up children, first-time buyers, newlyweds…
They are grandchildren, widows, people with disabilities, single people, married, young, old, working and retired.
All on the brink of losing it all.
And so this week I want to make a call directly to those in decision-making positions.
I've researched this issue. I know the history. I've witnessed the political to-ing and fro-ing, and I'm aware of the costs involved.
I realise housing is devolved. And that the Raac homes were built before this current ACC administration.
Honestly, if it's been written about Raac, I've probably read it.
So I ask you, knowing all that,
We NEED a collegiate response to this crisis.
We NEED elected leaders to be both fair and compassionate.
And we NEED those whose job it is to serve the people, to put those people first.
As we gathered to celebrate the life of Sheila, It was clear her legacy will be as a wonderful mother, grandmother, wife and a friend.
She'll also be remembered, and will be much-missed as a tireless campaigner for those Trapped by Raac.
I wonder if the legacies of Aberdeen City Council, and our national and UK governments will be similar?
It's not too late to collegiately, creatively and compassionately do the right thing.
People before politics, please.
You can read the family announcement here.