Plans to create a civic square in Aberdeen’s Union Terrace Gardens as part of the £140million revamp of the area will be presented to the public next month.
The scheme envisages levelling over the gardens and overhauling the Denburn Valley. A public consultation will take place in November and December, before a decision is made on whether to proceed with detailed designs and a planning application.
The consultation will be the first priority for the steering group of community and business leaders forming the Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future (ACSEF) group – the public-private partnership behind the development.
Members include representatives of Aberdeen City and Shire councils, Scottish Enterprise, Nestrans and Aberdeen City Centre Association. The group will also explore potential funding sources, the economic impact of the proposal and transport issues.
The 12-strong steering group also involves Jennifer Craw, representing Sir Ian Wood, who is one of Scotland's wealthiest businessmen. He has pledged to sink £50million of his own fortune into the bid.
The announcement follows concerns this week that it would not be possible to meet the Christmas deadline for gathering public feedback.
Divisions have also started to emerge among members of the steering group.
Peacock Visual Arts, represented on the group by director Lindsay Gordon, said it signed up in the belief that the public would be given the chance to comment on all options for the site. Peacock Visual Arts is making a bid to build a new centre for the contemporary arts in the gardens.
Peacock has already raised £9.5million and secured planning permission for its alternative proposal. ACSEF says it is willing to find a way of accommodating the centre within the plans, but Peacock’s funding is time-limited and project-specific to the original scheme.
Last night, Mr Gordon said: “Peacock Visual Arts joined the steering group to try and ensure that the best possible result was delivered for the people of Aberdeen by having a public consultation that explored the full range of potential options for the gardens objectively and without preordained outcomes. We believe that the citizens of Aberdeen have the right to have this debate.
“However, it would appear from the statement issued from ACSEF that the people are only going to be asked what they want to be in Sir Ian Wood’s scheme rather than having a broader and more fundamental debate on whether they actually want a development that will cover up the gardens forever.
“We have been inundated by Aberdonians who want to express their concerns for the future of Peacock and the loss of Union Terrace Gardens.
“It will be very disappointing if the people are denied their right to be consulted on whether they want to lose their gardens.”
Dave Blackwood, ACSEF board member and chairman, said a feasibility study had shown that raising the gardens to street level and covering over the Denburn dual carriageway was the only way to create a civic square to meet the aspirations of the region and link the city’s business and cultural quarters.
He said: “An attractive, safer and better connected city centre will have far-reaching benefits and make sure it truly reflects the success and prosperity of our region and that we can proudly and comfortably claim to be the energy capital of the eastern hemisphere.”