Work on a £50,000 safety upgrade for an Aberdeen city centre park which has been the scene of a number of high profile attacks is to get underway.
Council chiefs have approved the funds for Union Terrace Gardens, with massive new lighting works planned to “bring life” to the greenspace at night.
The aim is to improve safety after two sex attacks took place within two months of each other earlier this year.
And last year, the Press and Journal revealed a homeless squatter camp had been set up near the park which was littered with needles, burned spoons and tents.
Since the sex attacks, plain clothed officers have been patrolling the area at night and CCTV installed in the historic gardens.
Now under the council plans, existing lighting will be checked and repaired, with new lights added to the arches, Denburn viaduct and underpasses.
However, the gates will remain unlocked throughout the night – which has split opinion among community leaders.
Last night deputy council leader Marie Boulton said the new measures would “bring life” to the Victorian park.
She said: “This project is about bringing one of the city’s best features to life at night and will make it far safer for the community and people who use Union Terrace Gardens.
“There have been concerns over community safety which is why we decided to take this action.
“We want people to feel safe wherever they are in the city centre and by transforming the gardens with a new and improved lighting system, we believe we can achieve that and also discourage crime from taking place in that area.”
But Councillor Bill Cormie, whose ward includes the gardens, said he was “bamboozled” about why the authority was not locking the gates.
“Of course I welcome the extra lighting but you have to question why people would go to there at night anyway considering there is nothing to do or see,” he said.
“Eight years ago I was told it would cost considerably more than £50,000 to improve the lighting so it will be interesting to see what the final costing is.
“The gardens are full of nooks and crannies where shadows settle so I think the safest thing for people to do is to stay out at night.
“I’m still bamboozled about why they won’t just lock it at night.”
However Dustin Macdonald, chairman of the city centre community council, said: “I’d disagree with locking the gates for two reasons – first that they are climbable and that carries its own danger of injury and secondly because I think it could send the wrong signal that the park is unsafe.”
Police are still hunting for the rapist who attacked a woman in the Victorian park on January 27.
Just two months later, another sexual attack was reported although the 26-year-old man charged with the incident was later released.
And last month, serial sex offender Derek Baillie, of Great Northern Road, Aberdeen, admitted exposing himself to children at Union Terrace Gardens.
Last night Chief Inspector Graeme Mackie said he hoped the work would “bring confidence back to the area” and deter criminals from using the park as a haunt.
