LISTEN: Aberdeen indy march organisers face arrest risk

Organisers of a pro-independence march through Aberdeen could be arrested by police.

All Under One Banner (AUOB) says it’ll ignore a legal order to cover the cost of traffic management this weekend.

It's one of the conditions of permission for the procession which would otherwise set the public purse back by around £4,000.

Neil Mackay, who represented the group at a council hearing yesterday told our senior reporter Bryan Rutherford: "It won't have any impact on us financially because we won't pay as a matter of principal.

"They would be very foolish to pursue us for that."

"We're doing this across Scotland and dealing with regional police and councils, so when we see them use their discretion in one area, then why won't they use it in another.

"Why should we have to pay in one but not in another when we know it's all nationally connected."

Aberdeen City Council says it does have a backup plan in place, but unless lawyers take action against AUOB to recover the expense, it will be the taxpayer who is burdened with paying the fee.

Local resident Stephen Beer was at a special council hearing on the event's application yesterday. He told said: "If Neil Mackay and AUOB want to go ahead with the rally, not put in place all the recommendations that have been asked for by the council, then they're just flouting the law. What we've gone through today I consider a legal procedure.

"If they'd just followed the simple guide, and in that guide book it says in the first paragraph: 'before you apply, make sure you can pay' - now they've left it so late, they're expecting the police or the council to pick up the bill. I don't think that's warranted or justified."

Councillor John Reynolds is convenor of the local authority's licensing committee.

He told Northsound News: "Where we have to spend money, we will spend it.

"Where we don't have to spend money - in this instance it's a requirement of the applicant to actually spend the money - then we will try and recover that.

"As a councillor, that's not my decision. The lawyers will have a look at the situation, if it's not paid they will then do anything that is necessary.

"Of course because it's one of the conditions, the police could be involved as well - if there's a breach of condition, because they're the police conditions that we've put onto it.

"We've never had this before. We've had the Pride march which was fantastic. We've had other marches - Celebrate Aberdeen. Everything goes so well and we've been doing this for years. This is the first time I've actually seen any negativity from an applicant which is really, really disappointing.

"We've imposed these conditions but it's not up to me or the committee to make sure that those conditions are adhered to. That's up to the police and it's up to our solicitors if there's any non-payment of fees.

"When we talk about the cash aspect of it, there's going to be 10,000/20,000-people there. Twenty pence from each person would have towards that cost. It's not me who's asking for that, but the organiser will need to fund that, and maybe twenty pence to the organiser would be of benefit."

Police Superintendent James Royan added: "We are continuing to meet with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to resolve legal issues surrounding TTROs (traffic orders) and further legal opinion is being sought.

"In the interim we are maintaining local arrangements between divisional commanders and local authorities, however Police Scotland does not pay for TTROs anywhere in Scotland.

"The requirement to regulate traffic for pre-planned events lies with the event organiser and local authority and we will continue to engage with all involved to support events."