Scott Begbie: Stop finger pointing and get round a table to help those affected by Torry Raac crisis

Press and Journal

29-04-2025

Imagine losing your home and possibly your lifesavings in one brutal swoop through no fault of your own, just the stroke of a pen from a bureaucrat.
Just consider the sense of hopelessness and despair at having someone else make a decision that will change your life forever and there's nothing you can do about it.
For some desperate folk in Torry, that's not a hypothetical scenario but the reality they are living since Aberdeen City Council decided there was no choice but to run a wrecking ball through their Raac-riddled homes, despite the desperate pleas of the folk who lived there.
These are the people who face not only being forced out of a home they called their own but also being offered a desultory price for it – reported to be up to £55,000 less than their house was valued before Raac was found.
The grim toll on their health and well-being has now been laid bare by Torry GP Dr Adrian Crofton who has passionately laid out the the 'unremitting and inescapable' stress patients are facing because of Raac-related issues.
He has told of recurring themes from Raac-victims as they seek medical help – betrayal, uncertainty, powerlessness, injustice, financial fears and regret they have little to leave their children.
And Dr Crofton raises one question that needs to be answered – why was there no health impact assessment as part of the options for fixing or demolishing? Didn't anyone in the corridors of power consider the well-being of those who live in those houses, or the wider community of having a whole neighbourhood gutted?
And that raises, yet again, the spectre of those in power making decisions without closely looking at the way those choices will impact ordinary people – see also the city centre bus gates.
It wouldn't be so bad if there was an overarching sense of a council that truly cares but has to make the tough call for the better good, doing so with full empathy and understanding of the ramifications of what they are doing.
But families affected have spoken of councillors scrolling through their iPhones or eating sweeties even as the vote destroys homes and futures.
Raac-affected pensioner, George McDonald summed it up best when he said: 'There's been no compassion or empathy throughout this whole process.'
All the people of Torry want now is to be treated fairly and with dignity, not to be just shrugged off as collateral damage in what is a national scandal.
Instead, they have different levels of government each saying it is the others' responsibility in a sickening display of sloping shoulders, while ordinary folk have to be prescribed anti-depressants and sleeping pills.
There is a simple fix to this – one that the P&J's Trapped By Raac campaign has put front and centre.
Westminster, Holyrood and local authorities need to stop the finger-pointing, put an end to playing a game of 'pass-the-blame', and get around a table to find a way to help Raac-victims put their lives – and health – back on a firm and fair footing.
Scott Begbie is a journalist and editor, as well as PR and comms manager for Aberdeen Inspired.