The organiser of a historic Aberdeen University fundraising parade has spoken of her anger that it has been cancelled for the first time in more than 100 years.
Holly Bruce, the president for charities and communities at the Aberdeen University Student’s Association, has for months been preparing for the 127th annual Torcher Parade which was due to take place this Saturday.
But the AUSA’s application for a licence for the event was refused by Aberdeen City Council due to a lack of staff available to carry out traffic management.
Ms Bruce, who graduated from the university last year, said: “It’s just so infuriating. I’ve been trying since October to make sure that this is one of the best parades we’ve ever had.
“But the only blockages we’ve had is with the traffic management.
“The council are stating that we’ve known from November that we knew they couldn’t do the traffic management, but that is not correct.
“We have been in constant contact with them since October, but they have never given us a no or a yes answer, they have been stringing us along and it was only in early February we had a meeting that we were told – with just a month to go until the 19th – that they definitely couldn’t manage it.
“You can’t just uproot a parade. There are hundreds of volunteers, lorry companies, charities, first aid and more that need to be organised and put in place.
“It’s a tradition that’s been taking place every year for 126 years, so they should know that it’s coming up.”
Aberdeen City Council Licensing Committee convener, Councillor Scott Carle: “Aberdeen City Council is saddened to learn that Aberdeen University Students Association (AUSA) has cancelled this year’s Torcher Parade – an event we have proudly supported for decades.
“AUSA was notified in November by our roads services that the proposed date of March 19 would fall within our winter maintenance programme.
“As a result, we could not guarantee the availability of staff to support the planned traffic management required to deliver a safe parade.
“All our attempts to support and facilitate the event were rebuffed by the student body.”
The AUSA is hoping to organise an event with some of the parade members at Elphinstone Hall at the university on Saturday, but it has not yet been confirmed.
