Dear Sir or Madam, please provide me with a list of any meetings
held by Council representatives with representatives of the Steward
Milne Group during 2007 either on Council premises or other,
together with a brief description of the purpose of the meeting,
date, duration and attendee's.

Yours faithfully,

Alistair McGregor

Dear Mr McGregor,

Freedom of Information Enquiry Reference ENQ6057.

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 received on 25th July 2008, which has been forwarded to the relevant section.

The scheduled date for our response to your request for information is 25th August 2008.

If you have any enquiries meantime please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards,

Jean Reid
FOI Compliance Assistant

FoI Enquiries Team
Resources Management (City Solicitor)
Aberdeen City Council
Town House
Broad Street
Aberdeen AB10 1AQ
Tel: 01224 522875/522521
Fax: 01224 638556
email: [Aberdeen City Council request email]

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Dear Mr McGregor

I refer to the below Freedom of Information request:

Dear Sir or Madam, please provide me with a list of any meetings
held by Council representatives with representatives of the Steward
Milne Group during 2007 either on Council premises or other,
together with a brief description of the purpose of the meeting,
date, duration and attendee's.

Yours faithfully,

Alistair McGregor

You will be receiving a fuller response from Council officers but I have chosen to add a personal response for additional detail.

I have not, to the best of my knowledge, met with any representative of the Stewart Milne Group. I did see Mr Milne at an event but I have not spoken to him. I have certainly had no meetings with representatives of the company.

You may be interested to know that I voted against a planning application for Mr Milne's house to be significantly extended (essentially demolished and rebuilt larger.) While I would note that I took that decision based purely on planning reasons I would think it also helps to demonstrate that I am not under the sway of developers, instead making planning decisions on the basis of what will most benefit the area and my constituents. The application was however, passed.

Kind Regards
Cllr John West

John West
Councillor for Hazlehead/Ashley/Queen's Cross
Depute Provost
Aberdeen City Council
Tel: 07717715193

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Dear Aberdeen City Council,

I believe you are now overdue in responding to my FOI request and
are therefore in contravention of the Freedom of Information Act.
Please expedite the reponse and inform me of your actions to date
and when you intend to reply.

Yours sincerely,

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your email, received today. If it is a request for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 it will be forwarded to the relevant section or sections.

A response to your request for information should be sent to you promptly, and in any event not later than 20 working days from receipt. Please allow postal time.

If you have any enquiries meantime please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Jean Reid
FOI Compliance Assistant

FOI Enquiries Team
Resources Management (City Solicitor)
Aberdeen City Council
Town House
Broad Street
Aberdeen AB10 1AQ

Tel: 01224 523827/522875
Fax: 01224 638556
email: [Aberdeen City Council request email]

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Dear Aberdeen City Council,

I believe you are now overdue in responding to my FOI request and
are therefore in contravention of the Freedom of Information Act.
Please expedite the reponse and inform me of your actions to date
and when you intend to reply.

Yours sincerely,

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Dear Mr McGregor

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002: ENQ6057

Thank you for your information request of 25 July 2008 under the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). Aberdeen City
Council (ACC) has completed the necessary search for the information
requested and the following can be supplied:

Councillors
On 10th January 2008 the Lord Provost held a Business Supper and the
theme for the evening was Recycling and the Carbon Footprint. Stewart
Milne was present as was the Lord Provost and Councillor Neil Fletcher.

On 24th June 2008 Councillors Dean and Kirsty West attended a meeting
of the Arena Community Stadium Advisory and Monitoring Board which was
also attended by Stewart Milne.

Councillor Dean also confirmed that she had held meetings with Mr
Milne, but in his capacity as Chairman of Aberdeen Football Club rather
than representing the Stewart Milne Group. Most of these meetings would
have been regarding the Arena Community Stadium Project.

There are no further details of specific meetings held between
councillors and Mr Milne during 2007.

Office of the Chief Executive

DateDeveloper RepCouncil RepsTimeTopic14-JunStewart MilneD Paterson
Kate Dean1 hourCommunity stadiumSandy Beattie28-AugStewart MilneD
Paterson45 minsDevelopment at North Cove (other developer also present)A
TierneyM Bochel

Resources Management
No information is held by Resources Management. The Service has staff
who have had a meeting with Stewart Milne but that was in his capacity
as Chairman of the football club.

Neighbourhood Services
Judith Stones, Keeper, Archaeology, met John Walker of Stewart Milne in
the week beginning 22 October 2007. He showed her round the (empty)
Dalhebity House as part of the process during which she specified
archaeological work to be done in relation to demolition and building
work there (associated with planning consent). Only John and herself
attended the site meeting, which lasted about 45 minutes.

Development planning and Roads
The planning and building control services are part of Strategic
Leadership. All developments with all developers, not just Stewart Milne
Group, require meetings between officials and agents. Many meetings are
brief, and the details required by your enquiry are not normally
recorded, except in individual planners’ diaries. Significant meetings
will normally be recorded in the planning or building control case
files. Some information will be reported through Planning Committee
papers, available on the website, and may be supplemented by press
releases such as this one -
http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/acci/web/....
There are a large number of planners and building control officers
currently employed in the council and the cost of sifting this
information along with close analysis of case files would exceed the
statutory upper limit.

Roads Engineers are closely involved in development, and like the
Planning Department, their information, where it is held, is contained
in case files once developments are ongoing.

As you will see, the information we can supply is limited, as, apart
from formal meetings taking place through Committees and subcommittees,
meetings with external bodies are not normally formally minuted. I
attach a formal refusal notice for excessive cost. If you are able to
refine your enquiry in some way we might be able to help you further.

If you wish to discuss any of the above, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to
your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our
decision, you should write with an address for correspondence to:

City Archivist
Office of the City Solicitor
Town House
Broad Street
Aberdeen AB10 1AQ.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may
apply directly to the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner
(OSIC) for a decision. Generally, OSIC cannot make a decision unless you
have exhausted the review procedure provided by the Council. The
Scottish Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

The Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS.

Yours sincerely

Jean Johnson
Records Manager

FoI Enquiries Team
Resources Management (City Solicitor)
Aberdeen City Council
Town House
Broad Street
Aberdeen AB10 1AQ
Tel: 01224 522875/522521
Fax: 01224 638556
email: [Aberdeen City Council request email]

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