24-04-2025
Torry Raac: 'They decided our fate while scrolling on their phones'
Torry couple George and Sheila McDonald should be spending their retirement enjoying holidays and a well-earned rest. Instead, both of them, at almost 70 years old, are attending protests and fearing for their future.
The couple – through no fault of their own – are trapped by Raac.
'It's just not fair. We've worked all our lives and didn't imagine spending our retirement going through this.'
This, as George mentions, is the uncertainty of living in a house now designated for demolition due to the discovery of unstable Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (Raac) in their roof.
Bought from Aberdeen City Council under the right-to-buy scheme, it's just one of 504 homes to be razed to the ground.
But unlike the 366 social housing properties, now largely vacated, George and Sheila's home is one of 138 houses privately owned.
Former oil and gas worker George is Torry born and bred. He married Sheila, recently retired from her role in His Majesty's Theatre box office, 51 years ago.
They've lived in their three-bed Pentland Crescent home for almost 40 years.
Their children were raised in that home. They've built lifelong friendships from that home.
And due to the presence of the dangerous concrete in their home, Aberdeen City Council now wants to buy it back at a reduced price so a huge swathe of Balnagask can be cleared of its Raac-riddled properties.
'I wish I'd never retired,' Sheila says.
'We have the financial worry hanging over us, but then the less I have to do the more the thought of what's going to happen to us eats me up.'
Though George likes to keep himself busy walking his daughter's dog, the toll of the situation – now a year on for Aberdeen residents – is evident.
'Sheila's blood pressure is up. It's the first thing you think about every day,' he says.
'It's not easy, but we'll not be making it easy for the council either. We'll be riding this out as long as it takes.
'We've spent a lot of money on our house, we won't be giving it away at a fraction of the price it's worth.'
The McDonalds, like the other private homeowners, were invited by ACC to enter into a voluntary process to have their homes valued.
George and Sheila's immaculately decorated home has a beautifully cultivated back garden, and a view to the harbour from their 'upside down hen house'.
Though a cohort of residents voted to 'freeze out' the local authority, a few homeowners took part in the process and shared their results.
'Some of the valuations we've heard of have been anything but fair,' Sheila adds.
In February, we reported owners of flats being offered as little as £20,000 for their homes and family homes for as little as £68,000.
The Torry Community Raac Campaign said some offers they knew of were between £35,000 and £55,000 less than what homes were valued at before the news broke of Raac in the properties.
'We heard of someone in a similar house to ours getting 60-something for theirs. What would be do with that?
'Where are we going to go in Aberdeen for that?
'Well I'll tell you what, I want be moving into a flat. And I certainly won't be paying rent to Aberdeen City Council for the privilege,' Sheila added.
For George, it's the injustice of the situation – and a perceived lack of care – that most upsets him.
'There's been no compassion or empathy throughout this whole process,' says George.
'I was at the council meeting when they decided to vote in favour of demolition.
'I sat in the public gallery and watched a room full of people decide whether or not we would be losing our homes and our futures.
'And do you know what? I was sickened.
'They decided our fate while scrolling on their phones and eating chocolates.'
George and Sheila will join fellow homeowners at a private meeting of the Torry Community Raac Campaign this weekend, to decide on next steps as a group.
Since their last meeting, Raac has been discovered in Stirling, and 900 homes in Dundee are also now deemed unsafe.
'We just want fair prices or like-for-like houses. That's only fair,' added Sheila. 'Some council tenants have been given brand new houses while the homeowners could be penniless, living who knows where. How can that be right?'
Councillor Christian Allard, co-leader of Aberdeen City Council, and elected member for Torry and Ferryhill, said: 'Meetings are all day and people will have a drink and something to eat from time to time.
'The work of Councillors doesn't stop during meetings.
'I do have to respond to a lot of urgent Council business during meetings and also, we do use our laptop, iPad or phone to get any information we need to better participate to debates.
'All 45 elected Councillors are very much aware of the huge issue that is RAAC for the residents of Torry.'
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