Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

The fight goes on for Aberdeen’s Rubislaw Quarry visitor centre

Hugh Black, Rubislaw Quarry Heritage Centre.
Hugh Black, Rubislaw Quarry Heritage Centre.

The man behind ambitious plans to develop a tourist attraction at Aberdeen’s Rubislaw Quarry has hinted at a “Plan B” after his planning permission expired.

Permission was originally granted for Hugh Black’s £6 million scheme for a heritage centre celebrating the history of the quarry in December 2015, despite concerns for a number of trees on the site.

Mr Black, who bought the site with business partner Sandy White in 2010, had to apply to the powerful lands tribunal to vary conditions to allow for his dream.

This was refused last January and now, three years later, the original planning permission from the council has lapsed.

But last night Mr Black vowed to go back to the drawing board and hinted that a new plan will be revealed next year.

In a statement last night he wrote: “We have taken a decision not to renew our existing consent until we have the necessary permissions in place that will allow us to develop the site for the sole purpose of a granite heritage centre.

“We will be much better prepared, should we decide to take our project back to the Lands Tribunal for Scotland and would be confident of a positive decision next time around.

“However, we have a Plan B for 2019 that we are looking at which will give the thousands of supporters of this project the opportunity to be part of our journey and help deliver a unique opportunity for the Granite City.”

The Granite Expo 2016 at Hilton Treetops hotel, Aberdeen. in the picture is Hugh Black, Rubislaw Quarry Heritage Centre.

Under Mr Black’s original plan, around 120ft of water would be drained from the deep, lake-like puddle that is now there and a new building featuring a conference centre, restaurant and museum erected.

However a war of words developed with Canadian developers Carterra, who want to build 299 flats on the northern edge of the site. The £68 million plan was refused by the council’s planning committee in July.

Carterra has appealed the decision to the Scottish Government. Planning officers had recommended approval of the scheme.

Local councillor Martin Greig said: “Many people supported the heritage centre as a valued educational and cultural resource of benefit to the city and the region.
“They will be sorry to know this is not going ahead but the project was probably not realistic.”

Europe’s largest man-made hole

Much of the iconic granite that has formed Aberdeen’s cityscape and even some of the UK’s most famous buildings has been gathered at Rubislaw Quarry.

Once Europe’s largest man-made hole, many buildings in Aberdeen are made from the iconic stone – giving the lasting nickname “the Granite City”.

First opened in 1740, some six million tonnes were excavated until its closure in 1971 and granite from Rubislaw was used in the likes of the Forth Bridge, Waterloo Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.

Business partners Sandy Wallace and Hugh Black bought the site and then announced their ambitious £6million heritage centre plans.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


However the original consent for the site complicated matters and Mr Black appealed to the Lands Tribunal for Scotland to vary the conditions for his land at the southern part of Rubislaw Quarry to allow him to build a £6million heritage centre and tourist attraction.

But during the tribunal, rival developers Carttera – who hope to build a £68million, up to 10-storey development including 300 flats on the northern edge of the quarry – objected to Mr Black’s plans.

They said the proposed attraction could have a negative impact on the value of Carttera’s flats.

Mr Black lost the appeal, although judges described the proposed heritage centre as “bold and imaginative” and acknowledged it may bring public benefits.