Aberdeen’s controversial city centre bus gates are to remain in place after traders lost a high-profile legal challenge at Scotland’s highest civil court.
Lord Pentland, sitting at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, has ruled that Aberdeen City Council acted lawfully in making its “experimental” bus priority measures permanent, rejecting arguments from a group of city centre businesses that the scheme was improperly implemented and economically damaging.
Judge backs council over legality of scheme
The case was brought by veteran retailer Norman Esslemont, fronting a group of traders who argued that the council failed to follow correct procedures when converting an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) into a permanent traffic order earlier this year.
The challenge focused on two main issues:
- Whether the council should have sought consent from Scottish ministers before making the measures permanent.
- Whether the council took into account irrelevant considerations – notably the risk of having to repay millions of pounds in grant funding – when deciding to retain the bus gates.
In his decision, Lord Pentland found that the local authority had not acted unlawfully in the way it made the bus gates permanent and that its decision fell within the scope of its legal powers as a roads authority. The judgment means the current restrictions on general traffic around key parts of the city centre will continue.
While full written reasons are expected to set out the detailed legal rationale, the outcome represents a clear victory for Aberdeen City Council in a dispute that has become a touchstone for wider debates about city centre access, sustainable transport and post‑pandemic retail recovery.
What the bus gates do – and why they matter
The bus gates form part of a “bus priority route” introduced on a trial basis in 2023 as part of Aberdeen’s City Centre Masterplan and Low Emission Zone‑related transport changes. The measures were designed to cut general traffic on:
Enforcement points on Market Street, Guild Street and Bridge Street have been the main locations where penalties have been issued.
According to Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, Aberdeen City Council has issued more than 100,000 fines under the scheme, generating in excess of £3.5 million in revenue. Supporters, including bus operators and some city centre residents, say the restrictions have helped reduce congestion, improve bus journey times and create a more pedestrian‑friendly core.
Opponents – notably independent retailers and motorists – argue the gates have deterred shoppers from driving into the city centre, pushing trade towards out‑of‑town retail parks and Union Square, and worsening the financial pressures on already struggling high street businesses.
The legal case, led by law firm Burness Paull, was supported by a crowdfunder which sought at least £35,000 initially and later targeted £69,000 to cover legal and expert costs. The same firm had previously succeeded in overturning a similar traffic order in Inverness, encouraging Aberdeen traders that they had “a good prospect of success”.
The traders’ crowdfunding campaign ultimately raised over £70,000 to finance the case, according to campaign updates from Mr Esslemont. This included an initial investment of £6,000 by local businesses for Burness Paull’s preliminary legal review, with the law firm subsequently agreeing a contingent fee arrangement that helped reduce the fundraising target and demonstrated their confidence in the prospects of the case. By February 2025, approximately £17,000 of funds raised had been deployed towards the case.
At the hearing itself, council KC Dan Byrne queried whether Mr Esslemont – whose Thistle Street store is some distance from the enforcement points – was the appropriate person to spearhead the challenge on behalf of traders located immediately beside the bus gates, suggesting those who “put in a fiver” to support the case might instead have lodged appeals themselves.
Aberdeen City Council has consistently maintained that the bus gates are a lawful and proportionate response to transport and environmental pressures in the city centre, and part of a wider vision to rebalance streets towards public transport, walking and cycling.
Public opinion has been sharply divided. Some city centre residents have welcomed the drop in through‑traffic and argued that wider problems – including online retail, long‑term under‑investment and changing consumer habits – are more significant drivers of shop closures than the bus gates themselves.
Others in the shire say the restrictions have made it more complicated and costly to visit town by car, reinforcing their shift towards retail parks and online shopping.
Scottish Conservative North East MSP Liam Kerr, who had campaigned for the removal of the city’s bus gates, said:
“The outcome marks a deeply disappointing day for Aberdeen, which is being crippled by a council that is completely out of touch with the needs of its people.
“This legal challenge has well and truly exposed the disastrous mess that this administration has plunged our great city into.
“While the council may breathe a sigh of relief at this verdict, the true victims of all this are the businesses of Aberdeen, which are being suffocated by these ludicrous measures.
“The public deserve an enormous amount of credit for coming together to raise funds for this case, which should be the catalyst for these draconian restrictions to be axed once and for all.
“This isn’t the end of the road, and I, along with businesses, will continue to campaign for these ridiculous measures to be eased to give people the comfort they need to return to our city centre.”
What happens next?
With the legal challenge dismissed, Aberdeen’s existing bus gates will remain in force unless councillors choose to amend them through the normal traffic order process or the decision is overturned on appeal.
Attention is now likely to shift back to the local political arena, where previous debates have already led to some adjustments. Councillors last year voted to suspend the Union Street / Adelphi bus gate to allow vehicles to turn into Market Street and access Shiprow and Trinity Quay while further changes to Bridge Street and Union Terrace are explored.
Business groups are expected to renew calls for more support to help city centre firms adapt, including clearer signage, improved parking and park‑and‑ride offers, and a stronger programme of events to draw people into town regardless of how they travel.
In Case You Missed it:
For traders who backed the court action, the judgment is a significant setback after months of fundraising and campaigning.
For Aberdeen City Council, it is an endorsement of its legal position and of a strategic shift towards a less car‑dominated centre.
