Garden project splits Aberdeen
26 January 2010
Controversial plans to create a 'potentially award-winning' raised-level garden at the heart of Aberdeen are being presented to local people for them to have their say at two-month public consultation.
The proposed redevelopment will replace the steeply-sloping Union Terrace Gardens with a raised piazza at the same level as surrounding streets to link Aberdeen's main shopping thoroughfares. Regional development agency Acsef, which is overseeing the project, wants to hold an international competition to attract top-level garden designers to create the layout, citing ground-breaking public spaces like the Millennium Park in Chicago as inspiration. American conceptual landscape designer Martha Schwartz has already been involved in drawing up the initial feasibility studies.
"This project is absolutely transformational for the city," said Acsef chairman Tom Smith. "We've got to secure the future and look at projects which are going to create jobs and sustain the economy well into the future."
The project will cost up to £140 million, over a third of which has already been pledged by local businessman Sir Ian Wood. However, it has met with fierce opposition from supporters of the nearby Peacock Visual Arts centre, who had drawn up their own redesign of the Gardens using terraces and retaining much of the existing planting. That scheme had already been granted planning permission, but will not be considered under the public consultation.