The 'underused' Union Terrace Gardens
Ok, I promise to put up new pictures of animals and landscapes soon but this is too important to ignore. On the 11th of January Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future launched their public consultation for the proposed City Square Project in Aberdeen. This project’s aim is to rip out Union Terrace Gardens and fill them in with concrete to create a square larger than Red Square in Moscow.
Please, if you care about Aberdeen then go and read this site: Compare the Square
As you will know, I’m firmly in the pro-Union Terrace Gardens camp and I just cannot see how this project will benefit anyone but the construction companies involved, the people paid to maintain them(i.e remove gum off the slabs and shoo skateboarders away), and whoever benefits from the increased car parking spaces and their income. Where will the money generated from the commercial space go? How much benefit will there be to the economy? Exactly how does a flat grey square enhance the economy of Aberdeen so much that it becomes a world centre for renewable energy? How do they plan to grow mature trees on a car park? Where will the £90 million or more come from?
On the Big Debate with Brian Taylor on BBC Radio Scotland today, Sir Ian Wood failed entirely to tackle any of the points raised, preferring instead to just get a bit huffy after an almost overwhelming response from the studio audience against his vanity plans. Unfortunately 3 out of 4 elected representatives sat firmly on the fence. Brian Adam, Nicol Stephen and Alex Johnstone all said if City Square was good then they were for it but if it was bad then they weren’t. Thanks for clearing that up guys. It was left to Anne Begg, Labour MP for Aberdeen South, to really annoy Sir Ian Wood by declaring that the Peacock Arts proposal makes her heart sing and that the City Square proposal does not. It was stirring stuff and something that will surely become a feature of the coming weeks as more and more people come out against the City Square.
We need more people to come out in support of Union Terrace Gardens. ACSEF supporters call us NIMBYS but really we’re not against progress or development, we’re just against this ridiculous development. The Peacock proposal allows us to keep the wonderful gardens while making them more accessible, brighter and bringing a defined economic benefit to the area. It’s been designed by a world renowned architect, is costed, almost fully funded and has full planning permission. Peacock were ready to sign the lease and break ground when Sir Ian Wood announced his scheme, cynically designed to put the breaks on the Peacock development as that would mean his dream of creating a vast windy square would be dead forever. Peacock have offered compromise but ACSEF have refused to budge, it is they who are restricting the development of Aberdeen by blindly sticking to their ‘vision’ and brief.
It’s ok though, all is not lost. We can take action now to stop this madness. The first thing we need to do is tell them that we are against the City Square project: City Square Consultation
Then we write to our councillors, msp’s and mp’s: Write To Them
And we need to sign the petition: Save the new Contemporary Arts Centre
However, the most important thing we can do is talk about this with friends and colleagues, try and spread the word as much as possible. Write letters to Aberdeen Journals, get in touch with I Heart UTG and see if you can help with their campaign and keep using the gardens.
The gardens are an oasis from the traffic of both cars and people on Union Street, the fact that they are sunken is an asset not a problem waiting to be solved. I’ve spent so much time there over the years, for lunch and just for 5 minutes peace and quiet during a hectic day. Not once have I had any problems there, though I accept that drug users and alcoholics do appear there. The gardens also have some truly excellent victorian toilets which could become a real unique feature but are in one of the darker areas of the gardens, we need to develop these and bring more people into the gardens or we’ll regret it in future years.
Let ACSEF know what you think, if you see them in town stop and chat to them, fill out the consultation and let them know exactly how much the gardens mean to you.
I haave to say that I am in favour of the Ian Wood proposal. Abedeen is not Italy. For a great part of the year the gardens are a dark pit, completely empty with people walking round it. Raising ie, or a substantial part of it to street level will provide focal centre to the city and provide a venure for events all year round.
Hi John, thanks for your comment. They’re not ‘raising’ the gardens, they are ripping the gardens up, creating a concrete and steel structure where they once were and putting a landscaped roof garden in it’s place which cannot support mature trees. The idea that the gardens are unused is a fallacy. ACSEF have been very canny by having their consultation during winter but had they done it in Summer they would look a bit silly telling everyone how little the gardens are used. Even on Sunday when it was freezing cold, I spent an hour in the gardens and saw families and couples taking strolls round them. No alkies or junkies at all.
As you say Aberdeen is not Italy, so why try and create an Italian Piazza the size of Red Square? It’ll just turn into the windiest place in the city full of skateboarders and chewing gum. And for what price? £140 million is for the shell, depending on how many shops/real estate that they put in place the cost will skyrocket. Then there’s the upkeep of it all.
How will it create jobs and boost the economy? I wish someone would tell us. Tom Smith said at the Citadel meeting ‘It’s a leap of faith’. Well there is no way we should be spending £140 million + on a leap of faith. I demand to see a proper economic plan on how this will generate income for the region. Peacock provided one and have shown they will generate £5 million per year for the area.