The SNP has tabled radical plans for the local authority to buy rundown city-centre buildings as part of a scheme to rescue Aberdeen’s ailing Union Street
The Nationalist opposition group on the city council has proposed a £10million improvement package for the iconic “Granite Mile”.
It would involve acquiring and upgrading properties as they become available.
The idea is a key part of the SNP’s alternative budget for the city council – and was unveiled the day after Aberdeen was controversially given a Carbuncle award for the being most dismal town in Scotland.
But the Nationalists were last night accused of “populism” by Labour, who questioned where the money would come from and also the legality of a local authority purchasing private property on a “speculative basis”.
SNP group leader Callum McCaig said the Labour-Independent-Conservative coalition council administration could use funding set aside in the capital plan for the pedestrianisation of Union Street from Market Street to Bridge Street.
He said: “What we are proposing will change Aberdeen and restore the pride that people used to have about Union Street.
“For too long we have talked about encouraging property owners to take action to make it a better place , now we are proposing to take action and start really making a difference on Union Street.”
Mr McCaig insisted the proposal would fit with the city centre “masterplan” the local authority is working on.
He added: “This plan uses money already earmarked for Union Street, but is not being spent, to actually deliver what Aberdonians want – a city centre to be proud of.
“If the ‘Union Street Fund’ owns the buildings we can improve the buildings and the income would be used to fund further purchases and further improvements.
“We can no longer sit back and just let Union Street decay and it is past time we started to take action to make Aberdeen the vibrant city we all know it can be.”
Aberdeen Labour’s manifesto for the 2012 local election included a promise to “confront the tacky Union Street from pavements to shops so that the city gets its heart back”.
The administration said in February 2013 it would spend £10million on Union Street.
This included pedestrianisation plans for the section between Market Street and Bridge Street, but that was put on hold while proposals to cut off Broad Street to traffic were explored as part of the Marischal Square project.
City council finance convener Willie Young said last night that £10million for Union Street was no longer in the capital budget, but the administration had set aside about £20million for city-centre regeneration in 2016-17.
He said: “So where are they taking this £10million from? Are they taking it from this year’s budget?
“Also, is it the council’s business to buy up properties on Union Street? Are the SNP now a party that invests in property? Are they property speculators now?
“It is a populist move and it is short-termism. I would also question if it is legal and I will take that up with our officers.
“It is not our job to be property speculators, it is our job to invest in education, it is our job to invest in social work, and that’s what we are doing.
“There is a £21million uplift in our spending this year, that’s all good news for the council taxpayer.”
Since the 2012 election, the administration has invested £100,000 in Union Street “as a gesture”, Mr Young said.
The condition of the thoroughfare has deteriorated in recent years, with shoppers increasingly migrating to indoor malls such as Union Square.
Urban Realm magazine, which awarded the “Plook on a Plinth” gong to Aberdeen on Tuesday, identified Union Street as one of the reasons for the city becoming a “poor relation” of others, including Dundee.
Local politicians, business bodies and tourism chiefs have all united in their rejection of the unwanted “accolade”.