A glossy brochure for Sir Ian Wood’s City Square plan in Aberdeen which features pop star Annie Lennox is to be scrapped.
The businessman has offered to give £50million to the Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future (Acsef) project to raise Union Terrace Gardens to street level.
Earlier this month, Ms Lennox claimed Aberdeen had already lost too much of its built heritage to bulldozers, and that the city should not give up the gardens.
She said the people of the north-east should stop the green space being “ripped out and concreted over”.
It has since emerged that a picture of the former Eurythmics singer was included in the consultation brochure which describes the project.
An image of her in concert is used to highlight the idea that the square could be used for outdoor music events.
Last night, the City Square project team said the brochure was being “phased out” anyway and replaced with a more informative production. Ms Lennox said her so-called endorsement was “ironic”.
She said: “They clearly assumed it would be fine by me, as it makes it look as if I’m endorsing their vision – when I wasn’t even asked, they just went ahead in any case.”
Nicola Moore, who is running the City Square consultation, confirmed the document was being withdrawn.
She said: “As part of the City Square vision we see a space that could be used for a host of public events, including an area that would attract world-class performers.
“We would be delighted in the future if acts such as Annie Lennox had a venue in the city centre of Aberdeen that they could play in.
“We certainly didn’t intend to suggest that Ms Lennox supported the City Square project, we used an image we thought showed the type of venue that the new civic space could host.
“As it happens we are naturally phasing out this brochure.
“It has been replaced with a new, more concise leaflet which addresses some of the questions that have been raised during the consultation.”
The City Square consultation’s next stop will be the Peterhead Leisure and Community Centre on February 27.
Aberdeenshire councillors were given a special session with Sir Ian yesterday afternoon at Woodhill House, Aberdeen.
The businessman talked members through the plans before answering questions.
In a separate interview, he also hit back at some of Ms Lennox’s claims.
“In Annie Lennox’s young days, Union Terrace Gardens probably was very different to how it is now,” he said.
“I would ask her to come and see how under-utilised it is and the unsightly views there. It is a real architectural blight.”