The Sound of One Hand Clapping

“There is however always a danger when one individual claims to speak for others."

Sir Ian Wood 12th February 2010

Despite Frank Doran's reasoning for the public debate into the future of Union Terrace Gardens as a way to counter a situation which "seemed to be turning into a debate by press release." ACSEF's PR at The Big Partnership have been back at it this week churning out more press releases in defense of the much maligned City Square Project proposal. Obviously Sir Ian Wood's beliefs that the meeting didn't "move the debate ahead" has meant there is no need to change the course of the PR onslaught.

First on the agenda was an attempt to spin something positive out of last Thursday's public debate, the Evening Express honed in on a throwaway comment by Tom Smith, that "The City Square would be like the Dons Signing Ronaldo." Now, not that I know anything about football, but I'm sure that if Aberdeen FC was to sign Ronaldo, that would mean that it's budgets would be so stretched it would have to cut other players or be forced to employ cheaper ones, and wouldn't the investment in Mr Ronaldo be a bit of a waste if it has a knock on effects on the rest of the team? Not only that but it implies a direct relationship between cost and quality and that money is the only benchmark by which a City is measured.

Continuing the Footballing theme, Evening Express broke the "story" confirming support for the City Square Project from none other than Football legend, Sir Alex Ferguson saying "The Manchester United manager and former Aberdeen FC boss said the new heart could put the city in the “premier” league." Littering the article with half-baked football puns such as how the City Square would allow Aberdeen to "enter the premiership of European cities,” there is a significant failure to quantify what Sir Alex's statement actually brings to the debate other than to simply reiterate the ACSEF's tired rhetoric. Tom Smith is quick to pipe up in support of the statement saying "Sir Alex knows what it takes to win and Aberdeen City and Shire’s future depends on the prize that can be won by radically transforming our city centre", yes Alex Ferguson does know what it takes to win a game of football, or a trophy or a league, but he isn't exactly versed on the ins and outs of Architecture, of Civic or Urban Design. But of course, the opinions of those who are experts in Urban Realm Planning, Architecture or Civic design do not count to those in ACSEF.

The reaction to Sir Alex's announcement, which was pushed in the press through a release from ACSEF, highlights the side-switching double standards of the Economic Forum, who two weeks before had blasted Annie Lennox for speaking out in favour of saving Union Terrace Gardens saying "Ms Lennox’s near 40-year absence from the city made her views somewhat irrelevant" punctuating this with a comparison to Sir Ian who "is an Aberdonian who lives here." How these statements still stand with Fergie's support when he was born in Govan and has lived and worked in Manchester since 1986. However Sir Alex did in fact helm Aberdeen FC between 1978 and 1986 and was granted Freedom of the City in 1999 this gives him as much say as anyone else with an interest in the future of Aberdeen, including Aberdeen-born Lennox. Shame ACSEF do not believe this, with Wood quick to "hit out" at Lennox as her views were not to his liking, even though her opinion had seemed important enough to include her image in the booklet advertising the project. Of course that is before they knew what her opinions are.

On Wednesday ACSEF played it's supposed trump card, continuing the debate by press release, the Press and Journal led with the pre-emptively triumphiant "Now 5000 firms Unite behind Sir Ian's vision" stating that "Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Oil and Gas UK and the CBI declared their support for proposals to raise Union Terrace Gardens to street level." The article outlines what appears to be resounding support for the City Square from the Aberdeen Business community with Bob Collier, chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce stating "We believe this project is as important to the economic success of this region as the AWPR and Trump International Golf Links" and Andy Willox, Scotland's Policy Convener for the Federation of Small Businesses claiming "This project is one of the most vital for our region." The statement was pride of place among the Press and Journal's pro-square voice and also made it to the BBC's online section, until it was taken down when it turned out the "5,000 firms unite behind Sir Ian's Vision" statement turned out to be not entirely true.

The comments on the online article on the Press and Journal article were the first indication of unrest from members of the organisations cited, interestingly enough Peacock Visual Arts is a member of both the FSB and Chamber of Commerce. The following day, the Press and Journal reported that "Angry bosses have said they will quit the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) because they weren’t consulted before the organisation gave its public backing to Sir Ian Wood’s city square scheme in Aberdeen." This appeared to not just be the case for the FSB, but all four of the organisations who had put their apparent backing behind Sir Ian's City Square. Oil and Gas UK, which represents 104 businesses, with 63 of those in Aberdeen, represents both Sir Ian's Wood Group plc and the Balmoral Group, which has been vocal in it's opposition to the City Square with it's chairman, Jim Milne, having released a statement saying "many individuals, especially within the business sector, that feel pressurised into supporting the ACSEF project."

Falling under the heaviest criticism, including calls for his resignation from the comments page of the Press and Journal is Andy Willox from the Federation of Small Businesses, who admitted that "members had not been polled but insisted he spoke for the majority of firms in Aberdeen."

going on to say "I have been speaking a lot about this issue to people in the federation ... and at times we have to take a stand on behalf of our business members in general." This stance may be forgivable were it not for the fact that Mr Willox is also a board member of ACSEF, and it would appear that he is using is influence on one organisation to sway the outcome of a project being championed by another. Without balloting members of the FSB, Willox could be seen as misrepresenting his members in order to further a vested interest.

FSB have yet to ballot their members or indeed inform them officially of this stance, at least the Chamber of Commerce, also represented on the ACSEF board by the Aberdeen and Grampian President, Colin Crosby sent out an email to their members informing them of their position. Albiet the statement was sent out the same day as the original article appeared in the press and stated "We recognise that some members will have a different view, and urge you to also express your opinion" yet only after "we would urge you to express your view in support of the City Square Project, which your Chamber endorses." The email also included a reworking of the Chamber of Commerce header which now includes an image of the City Square project.(pictured)

ACSEF's final release of the week told of three Architecture graduates from the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture who have produced eight new possible images of the City Square. While the ingenuity and vision of young professionals is not to be sullied, the three graduates seem to have only been given Sir Ian's personal perameters to work with and not the Haliday Fraser Munro technical appraisal or indeed Aberdeen City Council stipulations on the site.

All eight of the designs feature permanent structures through the middle of the space, although conditions set out by Network Rail in the stakeholder consultations of the technical appraisal state that they must "ensure the new structure is designed for sensible dismantling. They discussed that due to the changing economic and commercial climate there may be need during the structures life time for it to be dismantled." (page 156) Many of the drawings feature significant building above street level, which is against Aberdeen City Council's criteria for retaining the view of His Majesty's Theatre, and St Mark's Church from Union Street, and none of the eight drawings take into consideration Sir Ian's remarks that "Acsef and I have repeatedly stated that this will not be a flat, concrete square" as each and every image omits any level changes required to accommodate the level and a half difference between Union Terrace and Belmont Street.

Amid all this publicity there still has been no demonstrable evidence of how the creation of the Square is "essential to safeguard the future prosperity of the city", even though this has been a major question posed to ACSEF and Sir Ian. As we enter into the final week of Consultation, with representatives from ACSEF, Sir Ian, Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeen Youth Council receiving frequent reports from consultation body Weber-Shandwick as to how the process is progressing, time will only tell what fantastical promises await before the consultation closes this Friday 5th March.

If you have yet to do so, please register your opinion to the consultation:
Website: www.thecitysquareproject.com
Freephone: 0800 111 4881
Text: Sending your thoughts by texting 60777 followed by the word ‘square’
Email
consultation@thecitysquareproject.co.uk

And if you do not agree with Sir Ian's vision and wish to support the I Heart UTG campaign please, if you have not already done so, sign our petition and pass it on, join our Facebook or email us at iheartutg@gmail.com.

A Real Architectural Blight

“If I have a headache I don’t get a foot massage,”

Edgar Gonzalez, Brisac Gonzalez Architects

Thursday night saw a long-overdue fully open and public debate on the future of Union Terrace Gardens with representatives from ACSEF, Peacock Visual Arts as well as independent representatives with specialisms in Architecture and Town Planning. The event was organised by North East Labour MPs and MSP Frank Doran, Lewis MacDonald and Anne Begg "Our concern was that the debate had become polarised, and seemed to be turning into a debate by press release. Both of these projects have the potential to make too big an impact for the city to be handled in that way, and we felt it was time to bring people together to try to get some facts out.” Despite ACSEF's Chair Tom Smith's statement that “We strongly refute Mr Doran’s claims that city-centre residents have not been given the opportunity to make their views known," he and Sir Ian were in attendance to defend, rather than promote the City Square Project.

Also on the panel were Elly Rothnie and Edgar Gonzalez representing Peacock Visual Arts, David McClean, Head of the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and the Built Environment and Allan Garvie, former head of planning, policy and environment at Aberdeenshire Council.

ACSEF's resistance to commit to attendance was apparently due to a fear that it would be "hi-jacked by vociferous objectors". How objectors to a scheme which the public debate is focused on can "hijack" the meeting is a little confusing, surely only groups with issues which do not relate to the future of Union Terrace Gardens could effectively hi-jack the meeting to divert from the agenda. Sir Ian was quick to point this out in the meeting by describing the audience as "one of the most hostile" that he had faced, presumably as it was his first open contact with residents of Aberdeen rather than the closed-door invite only presentations which has formed the backbone of the supposed "public" consultation.

As the debate passed from the presentations to the Question and Answer Session, "there was vocal opposition to the City Square Project from many in the audience," in fact, most of the audience were making statements against or asking serious questions of The City Square Project, the consultation and the motivations behind it. Only three members of the audience spoke out, Charles Skene "who first proposed the idea of raising the gardens in the early 1980s", John Michie who has made his views very clear, even before Sir Ian brought his £50m to the table, and Colin Crosby who, bafflingly, was quick to stress that Peacock had a "significant funding gap" and the project is still uncertain. It should be noted that both Colin Crosby and John Michie are members of the ACSEF board.

Countering Colin Crosbie's ascertions that the £3m funding gap would be a struggle for Peacock to gain (without making mention of the £90m+ required for the City Square), the aftermath of the public debate saw Peacock recieve another pledge to further their funding gap. Local Musician and Council Worker, Alasdair Johnston, made a donation of £10,000, which was part of inheritance left to him by his late mother, towards the Peacock-led project. While a drop in the ocean compared to Sir Ian's pledge, Mr Johnston commented "This £10,000 is probably a bigger part of my disposable income than all Sir Ian’s millions, so it’s just as meaningful to me." This is the second confirmation of an interest in investing in Peacock's scheme which has emerged during the course of the consultation, Jim Milne of the Balmoral group had previously stated that "he would consider investing in" the Centre.

The only support ACSEF have garnered of any significant note are an engineering firm expressing an interest in being paid to build the structure, not even any high powered business leaders from ACSEF have offered to stump up for the project, not even Stewart Milne, who this week joined the group of ACSEF interests emailing their staff encouraging them to get involved in the consultation and sign a "Support the City Square Project" petiton, and believes "If we blow that this time, it will be disastrous for the city and region" and who owns property as-yet undeveloped on the corner of the proposed site which may benefit from foundation improvements which would be brought about as a result of the Square.

After the debate, Sir Ian stated "I don’t think it moved the debate ahead because a lot of the people here – there was no changing their position, it was enshrined" continuing his habit of accusing others of actions which can easily be attributed to himself. Throughout the debate many questions were asked of the stringent parameters of the Wood Group chairman's "gift" and it was clear that he would not back down on his narrow view of regeneration options for the Denburn Valley or indeed the entire City Centre. To calls for him to invest in the proposed and passed plans for a civic square at the site of St Nicholas House he simply said he would not be interested in that proposal, even though it's place as part of the Bon Accord Masterplan, was accepted unanimously through consultation with the Aberdeen public. Amidst the usual scaremongering about "in 20 years’ time we will be having this gathering again but the agenda will be about what we intend to do to tackle unemployment,” Wood dismissed please for a true compromise along the lines which Edgar Gonzalez had suggested of extending the gardens due to his personal opinion that a sunken valley would be "ugly", reiterating his belief that "It is a real architectural blight."

Wood's views expressed as part of his newfound status as an architecture critic aren't exactly shared by experts, academics and professional architects. During the presentation, Dr David McClean described the Denburn Valley as "perhaps the most important feature of the city" The Aberdeen Architects Network stated that they "think that the design is fundamentally flawed," Jonathan Meades described the concept as "irreparably damaging to the cityscape", former head of The Lighthouse, Stuart MacDonald suggested that "Aberdeen could benefit from its own Bilbao effect by scrapping the proposed city square and instead supporting the bid by Peacock Visual Arts to build a £13million contemporary arts centre in Union Terrace Gardens," and last week the Architecture and Design Scotland published a report which states "While the deep level changes in this area present design issues, they are also defining characteristics of the topography and are part of the fabric of Aberdeen, and we believe that such features can enrich places if embedded within city development."

ADS are Scotland's Statutory body for Architecture and Urban Design tasked "to inspire better quality in design and architecture in the public and private sectors so that Scotland's built environment contributes in a positive way to our quality of life and our built heritage." Their report spells out a number of concerns with both the City Square concept and the current consultation process, expressing "some concerns about the way in which the project is currently progressing, and suggest that there are a number of issues which should be addressed as the plans for improvements to the gardens and the rest of the city centre are developed."

The outcome of the public meeting only highlighted the extreme flaws and uncertainty surrounding the City Square Project, providing no evidence of how the square is "essential for future prosperity", in fact Tom Smith described the project as both "a leap of faith" and comparative to "The Dons signing Ronaldo" rather than provide any tangible proof. ACSEF and Sir Ian's reluctance to demonstrate any of this evidence other than to continue making absurd statements and employing scare tactics about the end of North-Sea Oil in the three hours of the debate led to his closing statements to be interrupted by a chorus of "How?" from a large portion of the audience, backed up by his marginalising the entire audience as being from the "arts and heritage communities." Paradoxically, given the supposed nature of the project as a "civic" space where "the cultural component has to be large" then surely the arts and heritage communities would have to be the ones who the project would need to win over.

As we enter the penultimate week of the consultation process ACSEF are no closer to answering any of the questions posed, or providing case study, proof or president for how the Square can single handedly secure jobs and economic prosperity in the future, or secure Aberdeen as an International Energy City. As opposition grows towards the project, from the rising signatures on the petition to Save the Gardens, and from experts in urban realm planning time will only tell if Sir Ian will relent on the strict conditions of his "gift" and the project can move forward in a more constructive, realistic way. As Elly Rothnie, Campaign Director for PVA, pointed out during the debate “Our aims are so aligned that we have to find some way of making sure the city benefits and both projects can be achieved.”

What A Tangled Web We Weave...

"Negative and mis-information provided by groups opposed to the project will be monitored so that their actions, which may have negative impact on the project, can be anticipated and the presentation of clear facts and informed opinion made public"

ACSEF City Square Project Communications Strategy

The reactionary policy of ACSEF and Sir Ian Wood to criticism of The City Square Project has been a series of half-hearted ill-informed statements which seek to deny everything or appease everyone, while contradicting previous statements and generally confusing the situation. Rather than counteracting "mis-information" ACSEF are actively producing more and more confusing and contradictory statements about the nature and aims of the project. While dismissing those who oppose the plan as "based on a wholly inaccurate description" or "not fully understanding the plans"and Sir Ian expressing that his "real disappointment is over the confusion and misinformation in the public domain,” ACSEF's statements shed little light on what the plans are, or even that they know them themselves.

Adding to last week's Guggenheim comparison, ACSEF have now put out a release that "the firm behind one of the world’s most famous buildings has shown an interest in contributing to the proposed civic square project in Aberdeen." Not architects Pei, Cobb, Freed and Partners, who designed the series of pyramids but RFR Engineering who executed the design to I. M. Pei's specifications. Given ACSEF and Sir Ian's current penchant for culture and arts it is hardly surprising that they concentrate on the large Pyramid outside the Louvre Gallery, and shy away from the equally impressive Pyramide Inversee which is suspended as a skylight into the Carrousel du Lourve underground shopping mall.

Sealing the announcement, ACSEF claimed "that creating a Scottish Guggenheim or securing a major national gallery or museum was one of its main aspirations for the project", not explaining how this would sit with assurances that "the door is always open to Peacock" exactly. What ACSEF fail to understand is the difference between a "national gallery or museum" and a Contemporary Cultural Space. Aberdeen already has a national gallery in the form of Aberdeen Art Gallery which houses one of the most impressive museum collections in Scotland, and it has been said many times that the Northern Light Contemporary Arts Centre will not just exhibit art, but host a wide range of activities and provide a counterbalance to the traditional Gallery Museum of the Art Gallery and the small grassroots arts initiatives emerging in the city.

ACSEF's board is made up largely of business interests, with a couple of token representatives from the public sector to legitimise their status, as they have no actual funds or legal status. There is no cultural or arts reprentation on the group, which is understandble as ACSEF are the local Economic Forum, tasked with realising "the ambition for the future of the Region and to shape delivery of economic development in Aberdeen City and Shire." Since there have been no examples of any strong economic case for the development, and is aimed squarely at culture and civic use then why is it being steered by the Economic Forum, and not, say, the Cultural or Civic Forums? In

However as former head of Grays School of Art, Stuart MacDonald, points out "We already have plans for an iconic building by world-class architects Brisac Gonzalez, who have come up with a fantastic design for the new Peacock Arts Centre, which respects the landscape of Union Terrace Gardens and is capable of providing, at a reasonable price, an accessible, inclusive venue with the potential to become one of the best public buildings in the whole of Britain.

“If people want a world-class arts centre in Aberdeen, they should vote for the one that’s already on the table,"

As well as acting completely outwith their remit for economic development, ACSEF are attempting to ride roughshod over the ten years of work Peacock have put in to developing plans for a world-class contemporary art centre for Aberdeen, and the international competition already won by Edgar Gonzalez of Brisac Gonzalez Architects.

"The project is very real and properly thought through with foresight at every level."

Tom Smith, ACSEF Chairman

Accenting the unorthadox web-based campaign against the City Square, a post on twitter highlighted the unfortunate use of a live photograph of Annie Lennox used in the City Square Project Brochure advertising a possible use of the square for "celebrations both big and small." The Irony is not lost on Ms Lennox herself who revealed her strong opposition to the scheme in a post on her myspace blog last week. "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. Which is precisely what will happen if people don’t become pro active on the issue" was the response posted on her Facebook page and not long after the revelations, the Press and Journal reported that the "glossy brochure for Sir Ian Wood’s City Square plan in Aberdeen which features pop star Annie Lennox is to be scrapped."

Nicola Moore of Weber-Shandwick who are handling the Public Consultation said “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.” Of the £309,676 of public funds being spent on the consultation process a portion of this would have been spent on the design and extensive print run of the brochures, which have already been handed out at the shopping centre exhibitions, the focus groups, at presentations and a mass-mail out to Aberdeen homes, which would seem like an awful waste of taxpayer's money to simply be "phased out" just over halfway through the eight-week process. The phasing out, or scrapping of this document, which has been an integral part of the consultation, in favour of a "more concise leaflet which addresses some of the questions" hardly sounds like the "very real and properly thought through" project Tom Smith describes. As to how you can produce something "more concise" than the content-free original brochure will presumably remain one of life's mysteries.

An ACSEF spokeswoman, defending the brochure in The Scotsman said that "To show the fact that the new civic space and gardens could attract major outdoor and indoor concerts, we used a photo of Ms Lennox rather than another artist, as she is Aberdonian." Unsurprisingly, the purpose behind the inclusion of Ms Lennox is at odds with the bewildering statements of Tom Smith who dismisses the comments due to the fact that "Ms Lennox has been based in London since 1971" opposed to "Sir Ian is an Aberdonian who lives here." It seems her status as an Aberdonian is only justified if she supports the destruction of Aberdeen's only City Centre Garden.

With the heat of the national spotlight provided by Annie Lennox's statements now firmly on his scheme, Sir Ian has begun to sweat. Rather than accept her opinion, he critisized her remarks, saying "Comments focused on destruction by bulldozers and concrete are misguided. It’s ludicrous for her (Lennox) to talk about a concrete square" adding that he was "disappointed she’s been so negative without coming and having a look or understanding what’s happening." Lennox's original comment was "Aberdeen is your home town. Are you going to sit back, and do nothing while it’s beautiful historic center gets ripped out and concreted over”??!!" As the only information is "The proposal will create over 5 acres of ground at street level and a further 2.5 acres of all-weather, covered space with significant daylight below" and the only certainty is that the existing gardens will be removed then her comments hardly seem "ludicrous."

If the project is indeed "very real and properly thought through with foresight at every level" then why is the consultation process aimed at asking people what they want in it? In fact ACSEF's arguments against criticism are entirely contrary to Chairman Smith's statements and rely on the fact that the project is yet undefined to constantly deflect any concerns arising about the project, extending to giving "rows" to BBC reporters for mentioning the word concrete as "they do not know if it will be concrete yet." However neither the consultation survey or the focus groups are asking people what building materials they would like to use in the square and the HFM appraisal lays out that "The largest impacts would be from the significant amount of concrete, steel and other materials that would need to go into the substructure." (page 65)

With ACSEF and Sir Ian's increasinhly desperate attempts to bodyswerve criticism, they are now presenting the project as creating "a new civic space and gardens with a contemporary arts centre at its heart" which would be great for if it not for the project would have to destroy existing civic garden space and proposals for a contemporary arts centre. With the constant attempts to appease or pre-empt the supposed "arts community" and thin promises as the same "allocation" of green space with Sir Ian desperate offers on Brian Taylor's Big Debate that "You can have four acres of garden on top, if that's what you want."

Why spend £140 Million to build this at street level when there is already an actual "very real and properly thought through" plan on the table which would retain 2.5 Acres of existing, landscaped Gardens and have a contemporary arts centre at its heart for a tenth of the price?

What is so important about those three levels of underground real estate?

Art vs Business?

The nature of the parties involved and the interests concerning the debate around the future of the much-loved historic Union Terrace Gardens seems to have led the issue to be seen by some as an "Arts vs Business" scenario. Not necessarily a stance which has been put forward by either camp, but a conclusion easily reached when you consider the Business-led partnership ACSEF and the opposing plans for Peacock Visual Art's new Centre for Contemporary Art and the Artist-led I Heart UTG campaign to save the Gardens. However nothing is ever clean cut or black and white, most Artists are in fact businesses and not all businessmen see sunken gardens as a "chasm."

The balance was struck on Tuesday when Jim Milne, Chairman and Managing Director of the Balmoral Group spoke out against the City Square Project claiming that “As far as I can tell, the people of Aberdeen do not want Union Terrace Gardens desecrated. People don’t necessarily go into the gardens every time they are in the town, but they often look down and admire it. To put a concrete jungle there would be a mistake.” He also felt that the Peacock Plan had been "blown of of the Water" by Sir Ian's last minute "plans", and admitted he "he would consider investing in" the Centre, which so far no pub and club owners, property developers, Football legends, hoteliers or garden centre managers speaking out in support have offered to do with the City Square. More telling, Mr Milne went onto say that “with regard to the city square plan, I personally know many individuals, especially within the business sector, that feel pressurised into supporting the Acsef project by their peers." Mr Milne's full statement can be read here.

An ACSEF spokeswoman responded to Mr Milne's comments saying "It is nonsense to suggest people are being pressurised to support the city square project." This statement does not really tie up in respect to the emails being sent by Zoe Corsi of The Big Partnership and an email from the Chief Executive of the Wood Group to all staff about the consultation, and the Pro-Square petition. Sir Ian himself rebutted Mr Milne's opinions by saying "Everyone involved in the project takes great exception to any insinuation about people being pressurised to support the City Square" and dismissing the statement entirely by saying “there is however always a danger when one individual claims to speak for others" despite the entire debate being because of one individual's vision for what is best for an entire city.

Opposition to the plan this week also came from a former depute director of leisure and recreation at Aberdeen City Council, Jim Morrison said "Union Terrace Gardens have been around for hundreds of years and, although occasionally occupied by a few “undesirables”, have never posed a serious threat to the inhabitants" and that he was "not convinced that a full elevation to street level can be justified, either economically or environmentally." Adding himself to the growing list of professional expert opinions opposing the nature of the development.

"It is also not so long ago that Glasgow City Council decided to “modernise” George Square, sweeping away its previous leafy oasis used by many office workers to enjoy their lunch-time snacks and replacing it with an expanse of pink-coloured tarmac. For most of the time, it is ignored by the average Glaswegian."

Despite growing high-profile opposition to the plans ACSEF have have been dismissing statements with a speed and monotony that General deGaulle would have been proud of. To the Aberdeen Architects Network claiming the conditions on Sir Ian's gift makes a "mockery of the much-publicised “feasibility study”": "The technical feasibility study is a world-class, comprehensive piece of work produced by a team of internationally renowned experts."; After Anne Begg criticised the £309,676 consultation process: "This consultation is on ACSEF’s scheme and we can’t consult on someone else’s scheme." In response to Frank Doran's call for an open public debate on all plans: "We strongly refute Mr Doran’s claims that city-centre residents have not been given the opportunity to make their views known"; To calls that business were pressured into supporting the project: "It is nonsense to suggest people are being pressurised to support the city square project. Acsef has overwhelming support for this from the Acsef board and the thousands of businesses with whom it actively engages." ; And to Annie Lennox's comments on her myspace blog: "Given that Ms Lennox appears to have made her comments based on a wholly inaccurate description of the project on Myspace, we are hardly surprised by them." even going as far as to suggest that "Ms Lennox’s near 40-year absence from the city made her views somewhat irrelevant." Hardly surprising given Tom Smith's track history with contradictory statements, excluding the views of an Aberdonian ex-pat is hardly the way to go about "attracting and retaining people and businesses." Rather than attacking Annie Lennox for not living in the area, perhaps it best to consider why she has not stayed in Aberdeen.

And as more and more people are speaking out against the City Square, the threat of losing Sir Ian's investment is making more and more appearaces. The Press and Journal's editorial described "It appears, however, that his offer is one that the majority of Aberdonians feel they can refuse", Stuart Milne warned "It would be almost criminal if we don’t grasp Sir Ian Wood’s offer of a £50million gift" , an ACSEF spokeswoman stated "If the public does not support this project then he will withdraw his offer of £50million and it will not go ahead" and Sir Ian himself has said that "If the citizens of Aberdeen decide they don’t want this city square then I’ll just finish up a miserable old Aberdonian who’s £50million better off." and "I have always said that if the public does not support this vision then my offer of funding will be withdrawn." Significant to note that Aberdeen City Council's reported deficit also amounts to £50 Million, these comments highlight the difficult situation Sir Ian's offer has placed ACC in. How could a Council £50 Million down refuse a "gift" of £50 Million? Although the nature of the gift requires a further investment of at least twice that with Sir Ian's offer matched pound for pound from the public purse and with the establishment of 8 Acres of "civic" space which must be maintained by Aberdeen City Council's revenue budgets.

The public consultation runs until 5th March and has it's last public exhibition in Aberdeen City Centre in the Bon Accord Shopping Centre (A development not about retail is mostly being promoted within retail centres) so please if you have not done so, please visit the Consultation Survey and if you DO NOT want the City Square project then make sure to vote NO to the third question.(Also try to avoid selecting choices in the first two questions as we do not yet know how the information will be collated and whether requesting a feature will register as "support") If you have any questions you wish to pose to the consultation, contact them by email at consultation@thecitysquareproject.com, raise a question in the discussions section of their Facebook Page or Twitter (remember to use the #citysquare tag.)

If you wish to support the I Heart UTG campaign please, if you have not already done so, sign our petition and pass it on, join our Facebook or email us at iheartutg@gmail.com. Together we can save the unique heritage of Aberdeen City Centre and begin to move toward a better, brighter future for our city.

Thorn In My Side

Manhatten's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum was opened in 1959 to house the extensive collection of "nonobjective" artworks belonging to the aforementioned Solomon Guggenheim by a foundation established in his name. The building (pictured) was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and has become one of the most iconic buildings of the 20th Century, as well as one of the most popular destinations for Modern and Contemporary Art. The Guggenheim Foundation has a number of museums throughout the world: Berlin, Venice and Bilbao as well as three more due to open in 2010/11 in Vilinius Bucharest, Abu Dhabi, and Guadalajara Mexico. Of these, the Guggenheim Bilbao is of significant note.

Opened in 1997 and designed by Frank Gehry this particular offshoot has been described as "the greatest building of our time" and is responsible for the so-called "Guggenheim Effect." The Museum and Gallery was part of a larger rejuvination project for Bilbao and the Basque Country, and as soon as the facility opened it became a massive tourist attraction drawing over a million visitors per year and contributing greatly to the international profile of Bilbao itself.

The Guggenheim Effect is a term which describes the case for arts-led urban regeneration in the wake of the Bilbao development. Following from this there was a demand from cities across the world and attempts were made at further franchising of the Guggenheim brand to other cities across the Globe. The attempt at simple replication of the concept failed, as Stuart MacDonald described on BBC Scotland's Radio Cafe on Wendesday "cultural centres are important, but that they need to be rooted into the creative industries community and education infrastructure, and integrated into broader regeneration strategies." However following the model of Culture-led regeneration, building on broader strategies rather than replicating Guggenheim Bilbao led to a number of successful projects such as Tate Modern Dundee Contemporary Arts, Gateshead's Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, and more recently Glasgow's Trongate 103. What unites these four examples is their differences, unlike the Guggenheim Bilbao, these centres have mostly occupied and adapted existing landmarks and integrated themselves within the landscape of the cities they occupy. Not even all of these centres do exactly the same things, not only are their buildings site-specific, their purpose and remits are too.

Despite Sir Ian Wood's opinion that "Eighty per cent of the people who spend time in the square will have no interest in the arts”, public-private sector partnership ACSEF, backer of The City Square Project now "says it wants to attract a major international gallery such as a Guggenheim to the site." Dave Blackwood has stated "There is no reason why Aberdeen cannot aspire to securing a major arts brand and establishing our own Guggenheim, a gallery and museum which has led the transformation of Bilbao.” Apparently this is as well as a Contemporary Arts Centre as Sir Ian claims "The door is always open to Peacock and I’m still hopeful that we can work together" which means that even though they would only interest twenty percent of the square's users, there could be two Arts facilities housed there. Never mind the issue of Sir Ian's "vision certainly doesn’t see significant building above ground" making it difficult for the successors of Mssrs Gehry and Lloyd Wright to design the an iconic building, with which Guggenheim are famous, undergound.

Of course, looking back to the HFM appraisal the purposes of the heavy, and contradictory, emphasis on arts and culture. Section 8.4, point 7.4 "Issues with developing in Parkland" states "Public acceptance of loss of open space unless replaced with similar type of space. Response will depend on the type of development brought forward. A scheme that appears to be multi-storey car park and retail space led, with a contemporary arts centre put into a corner may be less acceptable to the public/planners than one which leads with the arts centre." going onto say in the actions "Solution will depend on how the scheme is developed and the emphasis on the type of development. There may be significant issues if the scheme appears to be a case of replacing one of the few green spaces in the centre of Aberdeen with mainly retail and parking development."

The problem is, as everyone is aware, that there is already a scheme on the table which fulfils those cultural and civic criteria. The Peacock-led "Northern Light" Centre for Contemporary Arts is Aberdeen's first realistic stab at having an up-to-date world class Cultural centre, which also houses Aberdeen City Council's CityMoves Dancespace and Arts Education and Development teams. In terms of cultural buildings, Brisac Gonzalez' Centre falls somewhere between the Guggenheim Bilbao and those centres closer to home. Like the Bilbao Gallery, the centre is a newbuild of iconic design but like Trongate, Baltic, DCA and the Tate Modern, it finds itself seemlessly integrated into the surrounding environment. Unlike the four centre mentioned, however, this does not reside within a relic of the city's industrial past, but rather lives within the slopes of a unique and much-loved Victorian Garden, one of the last remnants of pre-industrial Aberdeen.

Incorporated within it's remit and at the core of the centre is the regeneration of Union Terrace Gardens themselves. For years Union Terrace Gardens were a vibrant space, with concerts, bandstands, ice rinks, large scale draughts boards and quite possibly the most exquisite Victorian conveniences in Scotland, however in recent years Aberdeen City Council has cut these provisions, closed the toilet facilities, locked away the draughts boards in the arches and thanks to the Evening Express' high profile campaign against the placing of "needle bins" in the Gardens has gotten a reputation as dangerous and home to Junkies, although I can't seem to recall the last time I read of crime happening within the Gardens outside of an Ian Rankin novel.

There is direct correlation between those activities that used to happen in the Gardens and those activities which ACSEF suggest could happen on the CitySquare. Again, this brings us back to the well-trodden issue of funds and funding and the fact I, and others, have been over, that despite ACSEF's assurances that "the City Square cannot take money away from the council's annual revenue budgets" yet it is selling itself as a cultural and civic project made up mostly of the sort of amenities which ACC cannot afford to keep running currently because of the huge deficit in it's revenue budget. If the space which is being created is primarily civic, and it has been pointed out that to move the project forward on the basis of shopping and car parking would not be advisable, then it will belong to and be maintained by the city. As the Square has been recognised as " currently unlikely to create substantial new office/technology space targeted at industry sector growth", then, by its nature the Square will not generate wealth, but instead be a huge drain on already stretched resources.

Last week the Press and Journal, posed a number of importing and quite scathing questions to Sir Ian, reflecting the questions being asked by opponents of the Square or people who are rightfully confused by many of the plans contradictory points. Not-so skillfully avoiding answering any of the questions with anything tangible, Wood described Union Terrace and Princess Street Gardens as "totally different" because "Princes Street itself hasn’t lost its former glory", " The Denburn dual carriageway and the rail line make up about half" and that "They're 45ft down and they get very little sunlight." indeed the Waverly to Haymarket line cuts through the middle of Princes' Street Gardens, they are 65 ft down and the suggestion that the only reason why no one had decked over Princes' Street Gardens was because Princes' Street itself hasn't gone the way of Union Street is simply laughable. Anyone would think that Union Terrace Gardens were soley responsible for the decline of Union Street, and again there is absolutely no way of proving exactly how the Square will combar Union Street's decline. The placing of an outdated grandiose plaza is directly opposite the Trinity Centre and Travel Lodge and can only serve as the real architectural chasm splitting Union Street in two and making a mockery of the engineering ingenuity and architectural vision which defines Union Street.

The answers to the questions speak for themselves, and fail to actually address any of the issues. Wood claims that the balustrades and arches can be retained, and it "may even be possible to engineer the square so that some of the other existing trees can grow through" despite reports of Weber-Shandwick's "consultants" claiming that "most of them are elms with Dutch elm disease and would be destroyed." The claim of disease within the trees also appears in the consultation FAQ however is refuted by members of the planning department who state that "Any consultant who says the Elm trees in Union Terrace Gardens are infected with Dutch Elm Disease, without having evidence to back up their claims, does not know what they are talking about." Any consultant wishing to work the trees would need to apply to the council for permission under the terms of the Tree Protection Orders on the them.

Sir Ian also uses the point that "schools in Aberdeen have even banned their pupils from going into Union Terrace Gardens" but again representatives from the council have confirmed that there are no standing orders in any of the city-centre schools advising pupils to avoid the Gardens, with the exception of Robert Gordon's College.

The fear of losing Sir Ian's "generous gift" was expressed in a letter in Saturday's P&J "I find it hard to imagine that any other city in Scotland – or, indeed, the UK – would risk throwing away £50million of private money like we seem about to do." Yes, indeed turning away £50 Million investment does seem like a rather silly idea, but that is not what is happening here. Personally, I find it hard to imagine that any other city in Scotland would be entertaining this "gift" given the numerous conditions placed on it. Far from being a saving grace to Aberdeen, it requires twice that to complete the bare bones of the project, it stymies another project which has gone through due process and has been granted full planning permission, and destroys a historic and Category B-listed garden. The concern expressed from Rupert Lumsden would certainly have more gravitas if it not for the fact that he had his own plans for "100 acres of much needed land for business use and 500 acres of land for mixed housing alongside a new 900 acre country park" on land which "is currently farmland and would need to be re-zoned in the local plan", which are currently being backed by ACSEF. Mr Lumsden's company Banchory & Leggart Estates, is even represented by the same PR Company as ACSEF.

Even though ACSEF "do not want to pre-empt the consultation" Zoe Corsi of The Big Partnership, working on their behalf has been attempting to engineer vocal support for the plan as an email passed to the I heart UTG group shows:

From: Zoe Corsi
Date: 6 February 2010 09:35
To:


Dear all,

Gary Atkinson has passed me your details as he reckons you may be prepared to write to the P&J In support of the project. As you will probably be aware the objectors are writing to the P&J with increasing frequency and we need to counter-balance the negativity. I am looking for people to write letters to pj.editor@ajl.co.uk

This is obviously quite sensitive as I cannot be seen to be encouraging people to do so but if you are willing I am happy to provide you with the key messages about the project....

Gary has written in along with some others but I am trying to maximise our chances of getting letters printed...

I look forward to hearing from you.

Zoe

And contrary to Scottish Enterprise assertions that it is "not a numbers game" and the refusal of ACSEF to comment on the I Heart UTG Petition, this does not stop the PR manager from urging her contacts to sign the Pro-Square petition:

To: All at Aberdeen
Subject: FW: City Square Project - THIS IS IMPORTANT!

Dear all,

If you want to see the City Square Project in Aberdeen come to fruition, you need to sign this and pass it on to all your contacts for signing. This only takes two minutes and is very important. We need to demonstrate that the opposition is the minority.
The City Square project aims to create a better connected, more attractive, greener, safer city centre with a civic space and gardens that have something for everyone by raising Union Terrace Gardens and covering over the Denburn dual carriageway and adjacent railway line. For images and information on the project log on to www.thecitysquareproject.com

To sign the petition, click on link below…

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-the-city-square-project.html

Zoe Corsi
Director
The Big Partnership

Similar emails encouraging people to sign have been sent out to all staff at the Wood Group, directly from management. Staff at Talisman Energy and Shell have reported similar emails being received within their organisations.

From: CURRAN, Alan (WGENS)
Sent: 19 January 2010 15:19
To: WGENS Staff; WGENS Contractors
Subject:

You are probably aware Sir Ian has offered £50m of his own funds to help create a civic heart for the City of Aberdeen with the transformation of Union Terrace Gardens and covering over the railway and dual carriageway that runs through the heart of Aberdeen. It is believed that this project will act as a catalyst for the much needed regeneration of the City Centre. The attached one page article from the P&J outlines the key benefits of the project for Aberdeen's future

There is significant opposition from Peacock Arts who would prefer to proceed with their own development of a contemporary arts centre in Union Terrace Gardens although the bigger City Square project includes a good facility for them at lower cost and with better chance of viability. The arts community are very focused on their own plans as opposed to the more ambitious City Square which would provide a wider range of facilities, both cultural and recreational, for Aberdeen citizens.

Some of the larger companies in Aberdeen are encouraging their employees to participate in the public consultation exercise and make their views known on this very important project. For images and information on the project log on to http://www.thecitysquareproject.com and complete the online survey which forms part of the public consultation. There is also a petition in support of the project which you can sign by clicking on to http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-the-city-square-project.html. All of us need to reach our own conclusion but it would be good if the outcome of the public consultation genuinely reflects the views of as many of Aberdeen's citizens as possible and I would encourage you to participate and express your opinion, whatever it is, through the survey and the petitions.

Thanks

Alan Curran

Chief Executive

Wood Group Engineering (North Sea) Ltd
John Wood House
Greenwell Road
Aberdeen
Scotland, UK
AB12 3AX

Support for the square appears to be mostly coming from sources close to ACSEF themselves. A number of Pro-Square of anti-Peacock single post blogs mostly come from members of the Aberdeen City Youth Council who are led by Paul Robertson, a member of the City Square steering group. On Monday another ACSEF board member property magnate Stewart Milne backed up up previous statements by claiming that a "vital part of the strategy had to be the proposed City Square" when discussing "steps ... taken to improve road, rail and air links", directly at odds with claims made by Sir Moir Lockhead, chief executive of FirstGroup that "Other developments, such as a major revamp of Union Terrace Gardens, were being considered with little or no thought for the traffic implications." Were Mr Milne a member of the Council, and not ACSEF, he would be not be able to comment on the project due to his personal professional interest in the Denburn Valley area.

Meanwhile support for saving Union Terrace Gardens is widespread and not, as ACSEF would have you believe, simply restricted to the "arts community" or "supporters of Peacock Visual Arts" but to a great number of Aberdeen residents and ex-pats who have a deep emotional attachment to Union Terrace Gardens, which is so much more than a simple "allocation" of green space. The six thousand and ninety first signature on the petition to save the gardens was from Eurythmics vocalist and one of Aberdeen's most famous daughters, Annie Lennox. In a blog post on her myspace page, Ms Lennox described the City Square plans as "idiocy and madness." and making a plea to the people of aberdeen "“Aberdeen is your home town. Are you going to sit back, and do nothing while it’s beautiful historic center gets ripped out and concreted over”??!! It’s down to you to stop this happening."

ACSEF's response to this high-profile opposition was that "Ms Lennox appears to have made her comments based on a wholly inaccurate description of the project " affirming their opinion that anyone who opposes the project does not understand it. However the plans are so vague that not many people could claim to fully understand it, let alone ACSEF themselves. There are many mixed messages being put out there by ACSEF concerning the content, and purpose of the square as they attempt to appeal to every possible demographic no matter how contradictory their messages are between one group and another. While the only certainty of the project requires the full excavation of the current Union Terrace Gardens, ACSEF can use the undefined nature of their scheme to avoid any criticism. Pauline MacLean, arts correspondent for BBC Scotland revealed on the BBC Scotland Radio Cafe programme that when she "reported on this for news purposes I got a row from ACSEF saying 'we don't know for sure it's going to be concrete yet' although they're obviously going to need something tough and grey in order to build up what is essentially this piazza area."

"Politicians have now invited representatives of the two bids, along with nearby residents, a town planning expert, councillors and members of architecture, heritage and civil amenity groups to a meeting at Aberdeen Citadel, in Castle Street, on February 18 at 6.30pm." Labour MPs and MSPs Anne Begg, Lewis MacDonald, Frank Doran and Richard Baker have arranged a full public debate in order to combat what they call a “polarised and far too narrow” debate. Unsurprisingly Tom Smith of ACSEF was quick to "strongly refute Mr Doran’s claims that city-centre residents have not been given the opportunity to make their views known" against the tide of criticism of the consultation process. The event will be a rare opportunity for both the City Square and the Peacock Scheme to be presented together fairly and the public given the opportunity to hear independent expert opinions and discuss options for the site within the "context of what the city needs and how these developments would meet that need." A much welcome and overdue event will give the public of Aberdeen the ability to question those behind the proposals directly.