A bitter battle is currently being fought over Union Terrace Gardens, a green oasis and natural feature in the centre of Aberdeen, oil capital of Scotland. Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future (ACSEF) wants to cover over the gardens and place what they call a city square on top of them.
Millionaire local businessman, Sir Ian Wood of the Wood Group, has pledged £50m of his personal fortune towards the project.
While some Aberdonians support the idea, many are passionately opposed to it, leading as it would to the irrevocable loss of Union Terrace Gardens and the disappearance of the valley of the Denburn around which Aberdeen grew and developed over centuries.
Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen
Union Terrace Gardens were made out of the valley of the Denburn and are reached by a number of stone steps and paths leading down from the surrounding streets. These include Union Street, the city's main thoroughfare.
The view up from the gardens offers dramatic views of many of Aberdeen's stunning granite buildings. The city's impressive memorial to William Wallace, Scotland's national hero, towers above the gardens.
The main railway line between Aberdeen and Inverness also runs alongside the gardens.
Controversial Proposal to Cover Over Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen
Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future has proposed a raised piazza and city square covering the gardens and meeting up with Union Street, with the space now occupied by the natural valley of Union Terrace Gardens possibly being given over to car parking.
If the scheme does go ahead, millionaire local businessman Sir Ian Wood has pledged £50m of his own fortune towards the projected overall cost of between £110m and £140m.
Opposition to Aberdeen's City Square Project
The opinion columns and letters pages of Aberdeen's two newspapers, the Press and Journal and the Evening Express, are currently full of arguments for and against the City Square project.
An online petition and a Facebook group have been launched to save Union Terrace Gardens. These favour the alternative proposal for their regeneration which involves a new visual arts centre.
Alternative Proposal for Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen
Peacock Visual Arts, currently in Aberdeen's Castlegate, already have planning permission for a new visual arts centre in Union Terrace Gardens. They and their supporters believe this new cultural project would revitalise the gardens whilst retaining the unique natural feature of the valley of the Denburn in the heart of Aberdeen.
Consultation on the Union Terrace Gardens Proposal
This is being run by ACSEF, who have advanced the City Square plans, and will close on March 5, 2010. Members of the public are invited to study the proposals and give their opinions on ACSEF's City Square website.
The plans for Peacock Visual Arts' proposed new centre in Union Terrace Gardens can also be viewed online, as can their suggestion that it could be possible to reach a compromise between the two projects without losing Union Terrace Gardens.
Read more about the creative protest against the City Square plans.
