I’VE lived my entire life (so far) in the Aberdeen area. Hopefully, I’ve gained some knowledge of the north-east, its people and what makes us tick. Across more than seven decades, I’ve also witnessed the challenges and changes the region has faced.

As a youngster, I remember the harbour and fish market with its rows of deep-sea trawlers stretching as far as the eye could see. Employment as a fish market porter was much sought after, often handed down within families. Harry Yorsten, an international player and the “Golden Boy” of Aberdeen’s league-winning side of the 1950s, gave up the game to become a porter.

I accompanied my engineer father to the bottom of Rubislaw Quarry, 140 metres deep, and the source of granite for buildings around the world. A school trip took me to the Crombie textile mill that had manufactured uniforms for Confederate troops in the American Civil War. My uncle worked all his life at Hall Russell shipyard and several friends found jobs at one of the local paper mills.

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What’s the common factor in that self-indulgent stroll down memory lane? Simple: all those industries have gone to the wall. To be fair, by the 1960s, some were already on the slippery slope. The gradual decline of those traditional industries was accelerated by the discovery of North Sea oil and the city’s identification as “Europe’s Oil Capital.” Those of us with no connection to the industry viewed it with mixed feelings. We saw it for what it was: a mixed blessing.

That judgment is confirmed by recent research by University of Aberdeen academics entitled Just Transition for Workers and Communities in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. The report describes the drawbacks as well as benefits of being the so-called oil capital. It also looks to the future and the next challenge facing the region: transitioning from the current unhealthy dependency on a single industry.

Benefits identified in Just Transition include the reversal of population decline, as workers from other areas and countries moved to the area. Relatively high wages both onshore and offshore are still an attraction. In our cul de sac of five houses, we are the only residents with no connection to the oil business. Further benefits included lower than average unemployment rates. All good stuff for those “in the oil,” but as late as1988, wages for non-oil related workers remained “well below the British average.”

The academics cast doubt on whether “oil capital” status brought any net gain for local workers and communities. Any “trickle down” largely by-passed local people and their communities, finding its way instead to central governments. Oil revenues camouflaged the disastrous UK economic policies of the Thatcher years. Revenues spent north of the border largely benefitted the Central Belt.

Precious little found its way back in terms of inward investment. A 2015 publication noted oil-related infrastructure costs were met “almost entirely from our local rates and council taxes”. In 1982 the area even lost its Development Area status, which wasn’t restored, even when the oil price collapsed in 1986. Even today, the area still experiences the least generous financial settlements from the Scottish Government.

Oil sounded the death knell for already ailing traditional industries. Inflated costs deterred non-oil businesses from relocating to the area. Increasingly, the local economy became a one trick pony. The arrival of “big oil” displaced many smaller local businesses meaning key economic decisions were taken outside the region. Multinational profits have done little to benefit Scotland and the north-east in particular.

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Furthermore, locals were priced out of the housing market. For a time, only southern England had higher house prices. Superficial prosperity camouflaged growing social and economic inequality and pockets of severe deprivation. As recently as 2016, around 23% of the city’s households were in fuel poverty.

As its title suggests, Just Transitions looks ahead to the north-east’s post-oil future. The Scottish Government’s Joint Transition Fund is a step in the right direction. Next time round though, let’s take more account of fairness, local rights, concerns, and aspirations.