by Hannah-Rose Lloyd & Innes Paton.
St Fittick’s Park, the last greenspace in Torry, will be reduced in size by a third this summer. This follows a six-year campaign by the Friends of St Fittick’s Park group and other environmental activists who look to preserve the space, claiming that developers ‘do work to Torry, not with Torry’.
ETZ Limited, a not-for-profit firm started by Torry-born billionaire Sir Ian Wood, will be constructing an ‘Energy Transition Zone’ on the park. This development is part of plans for the Port of Aberdeen to become the first net-zero port by 2040.
The Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) that will be built on the park is called the ‘Marine Gateway’. The 15-hectare site aims to host ‘high-value business operations’ on the edge of the port.
Richard Caie, an activist for Friends of St Fittick’s Park, said on the Gettin’ Rowdy with The Gaudie podcast, “You can’t build a factory on top of a beautiful, wild, diverse area while trying to say it is a green industrial estate.” He added: “This is definitely a land grab.”
Aberdeen City Council named the park a priority site for nature improvements in 2012. However in 2020, the council voted to remove the protections from the site to allow for the development to take place.
Scott Herrett, an activist for Friends of the Earth, explained to The Gaudie that focusing on a single development site risks misunderstanding what a just transition requires. “An energy transition can’t just be reduced to a zone or a single geographical area,” he said. “It has to happen across the system, on a national and integrated scale, in how we use energy, how we build, and how we plan. The idea that you can contain that within one small site is fundamentally flawed.
“One just has to look at the board of ETZ Ltd. One needs to ask why the executive committee is full of people who think we need to keep drilling for more oil and gas.
“It ultimately comes down to profitability, it seems commercially driven. The ETZ is not fundamentally about a just energy transition.” Friends of St Fittick’s have described the works as “greenwashing.”
Maren Mitchell, studying a PhD in energy transition at the University of Aberdeen, commented: “I think the risk to St Fittick’s Park is so damaging as it is the only green space in an area which already is one of the most deprived in not only Aberdeen but Scotland.
“It seems that the costs to the community vastly outweigh any benefits.”
A strategic assessment into the area found that Torry East has the lowest median income of any area in Aberdeen. The area also has a life expectancy approximately 13 years lower than elsewhere in Aberdeen. 22 medical professionals have previously called on Aberdeen City Council to protect the park, stating concerns for public health in the area.
Speaking with The Gaudie, an anonymous University of Aberdeen student said, “The government should be introducing more green spaces, not removing them. They are crucial to public health. As Torry is known as a hugely disadvantaged area, the development can only be described as a setback.”
Locals have described the park as being central to the community. Members of Friends of St Fittick’s Park organise regular social walks and litter picks, with equipment provided by Clean Aberdeen.
ETZ Ltd’s own greenspace survey, carried out between late 2024 and early 2025, found that more than half of the respondents visit at least once a week. What they valued most in the park, they said, was nature and wildlife.
Sylvie, a zoology student at the University of Aberdeen, said the loss of green space could have wider ecological effects: “It’s conflicting because renewable energy is a much better source of energy, but it also impacts wildlife. In a city, you don’t have much green space, so when a chunk of that is taken away it disrupts habitats and affects the whole ecosystem.”
Activists say that ETZ works could threaten the wildlife that resides in the park.
Funding from organisations including the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and Aberdeen Greenspace supported the introduction of wildflower planting, new woodland, and the clean-up of the East Tullos Burn, a waterway which had been contaminated with heavy metals and hydrocarbons. The burn has since been naturalised, with reedbeds and wetlands added to support wildlife and improve water quality.
Richard Caie stated: “St Fittick’s Park is home to a lot of migratory species. It [(the ETZ)] will obviously have a great impact on the wildlife there.”
The local community has made efforts to maintain and develop the park through further planting and introducing access paths and children’s play facilities. This includes the development of the St Fittick’s Park Outdoor Classroom, which received support from funders such as the Just Transition Participatory Budgeting Fund and the National Lottery Community Fund.
Scottish Greens politician Maggie Chapman has been vocal in opposing the development:
“Green spaces are not luxuries; they are essential for physical health, mental wellbeing, and community cohesion. Stripping them away from a community that is already facing socio-economic challenges reinforces disadvantage and entrenches inequality.
“If developments associated with the Energy Transition Zone undermine local wellbeing and ecological health, then they risk becoming a continuation of extractive practices.
“Addressing the long-standing issues faced by Torry requires more than stopping a single development. It demands a systemic shift in how decisions are made and how communities are valued. “
A spokesperson for ETZ Ltd said:
“ETZ Ltd is a not-for-profit organisation operating on the basis of no commercial gain and with one over-riding goal; to protect and create as many jobs as possible ensuring a sustainable and vibrant future for the North East of Scotland.
“ETZ Ltd is actively implementing a multi-million-pound, pre-development enabling investment to realign East Tullos Burn and wetlands, improving its biodiversity and water quality, as well as to significantly enhance community amenities in and around St Fittick’s Park.”
On April 8th, Friends of St Fittick’s Park launched a new fundraiser with the hope to pursue legal action against Aberdeen City Council, as they claim the land cannot legally be given away for industrial works.
Hear more about St Fittick’s Park in the latest episode of the Gettin’ Rowdy with The Gaudie podcast.
They aim to raise £8,000 to cover their legal research.
You can find the fundraiser at: www.crowdjustice.com/case/protect-st-fitticks-park/