A new Regional Economic Strategy developed to help secure the north east of Scotland's economic future has been agreed by local councillors.
Aberdeenshire councillors approved the strategy at a special meeting of the Full Council today (December 16).
It provides a long-term plan for the economic development of the North-east to 2035.
Members voted 58-2 in favour, defeating a motion from Paul Johnston (Mid Formartine) and Martin Ford (East Garioch) which sought to move some of its focus away from the oil and gas industry, making use of the existing expertise to develop the renewable energy sector.
Aberdeenshire Council co-leader, Richard Thomson, said: “We all know that the North-east of Scotland is one of the most prosperous regions of one of the most prosperous countries in Europe.
“This strategy recognises our strengths and our opportunities. The choices we make in pursuit of this strategy will govern the lives we lead and the opportunities we have for generations to come.
"We can either shape events or be shaped by them. This strategy, together with our regeneration strategy sitting alongside it gives us the best chance we've had in a generation to meet present and future economic challenges and to capitalise on the many opportunities we know the North-east has."
Councillor Jim Gifford (Mid Formartine) said he was very happy to support the strategy and Cllr Jill Webster (Banchory and Mid Deeside) described it as “enabling the evolution of the North-east of Scotland”.
The Regional Economic Strategy is focused on four themes matching the priorities in the Scotland’s economic strategy: Innovation, Internationalisation, Infrastructure and Inclusivity.
It is designed to be a high-level document which sets out key sectors and strategic investment priorities for Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen as a whole.
This approach reflects the region’s competitive advantage and also the sectors’ consistently high performance and contribution to the Scottish and UK economies.
The key sectors are: Oil and Gas; Food, Drink and primary industries; Tourism and Life Sciences.
Councillors also had an update on progress towards the proposed Aberdeen City Region Deal – which is one of the programmes that will underpin the strategy.
A report outlined how officers have, alongside public and private sector partners, been developing the details of the bid, to provide the substantial and compelling information needed to secure a deal through negotiation with Government.
At the same meeting, Councillors established a Joint Committee with Aberdeen City Council, to be known as the Aberdeen City Region Deal Joint Committee, and made changes to the council's scheme of delegation to allow it to come into effect immediately.
They allocated a range of powers to the new joint committee and appointed Co-leaders Richard Thomson and Martin Kitts-Hayes, along with Jim Gifford (Mid Formartine), as substantive members, with councillors Alison Evison (North Kincardine), David Aitchison (Westhill and District) and Karen Clark (Banchory and Mid-Deeside) as subsitutes.
Full Council also noted that any decision to accept the provisions and terms of a City Region Deal will be reserved for the respective Councils and will not be delegated to the Joint Committee.
A separate report focussing on ONE was also received by councillors, who noted the body's recent establishment as the new private-public economic development partnership for Aberdeen City and Shire.
Cllr Thomson was appointed to represent the authority on the ONE board, with Cllr Kitts-Hayes appointed as his substitute.
The Full Council agreed to lobby the ONE board to allow another councillor and substitute to join and agreed that regular updates on ONE activity should be given to the council's Infrastructure Services Committee.
You can see the reports to Full Council and the proposed Regional Economic Strategy on the Aberdeenshire Council website. (http://bit.ly/1Y9J7U4)