About this case

Case name

Norman Esslemont v Aberdeen City Council

Case reference number

XA15/25

Dates of hearing

• Tuesday 11 November 2025

Time of hearing

10:30 to 13:00 then 14:00 until conclusion

Division

First Division

Judges

• Lord President
• Lady Wise
• Lord Clark

Agents and Counsel

For the Appellant (Mr Esslemont)

• Agents: Burness Paull LLP
• Counsel: Alasdair Burnet K.C., Alasdair Sutherland, sol adv

For the Respondents (Aberdeen City Council)

• Agents: Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP
• Counsel: Dan Byrne, K.C.

Case description

[1] Mr Esslemont appeals against the decision of Aberdeen City Council to convert an experimental traffic regulation order (“ETRO”), namely the Aberdeen City Council (City Centre, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) (Experimental) Order 2023, to a permanent traffic regulation order, by virtue of the Aberdeen City Council (City Centre, Aberdeen) (Traffic Management) Order 2025.

[2] The imposition of the ETRO led to the creation of bus priority and local access only restrictions on Union Street, Market Street, Guild Street and Bridge Street, Aberdeen (see diagram below). Aberdeen City Council sought to make those changes permanent; however, certain parties, including Mr Esslemont and local businesses, objected to the ETRO being made permanent.

[3] Mr Esslemont contends that:

1. to make the ETRO permanent, Aberdeen City Council required the consent of the Scottish Ministers, in terms of paragraph 13(1)(a) of Schedule 9 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984;
2. Aberdeen City Council’s decision to make the ETRO permanent was based upon an irrelevant consideration, namely the risk that if it did not make the ETRO permanent it may need to reimburse grant funding given by the Scottish Ministers for improvements works;
3. Aberdeen City Council’s balancing of the relevant considerations in making the ETRO permanent was unreasonable;
4. the ETRO was not truly experimental in nature; and
5. Aberdeen City Council provided inadequate and unintelligible reasons to make the ETRO permanent.

[4] Aberdeen City Council submits that it did not require to gain the consent of the Scottish Ministers to make the ETRO permanent, as regulation 13(2) of Schedule 9 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 was engaged. It also submits that: when the ETRO was imposed it was experimental; that its decision to make the ETRO permanent was not based on irrelevant considerations; that its balancing of the relevant factors in making the ETRO permanent was reasonable; and that it provided adequate reasons for its decision.

[5] The First Division will hear this appeal on 11 November 2025 at 10.30am.