New plans to be proposed for Union Terrace Gardens

A BITTER row over the future of Aberdeen’s Union Terrace Gardens took a new twist yesterday, as the Independent group on the council’s ruling coalition announced it will table alternative plans for the site.

The three-strong group plans to unveil details of a “compromise” solution before the crucial meeting to vote on the contentious scheme on 22 August. The meeting had been expected to be a straight vote between a call by the majority Labour group on the coalition administration to abandon the project and a motion by the SNP opposition to press ahead with the £140 million transformational project.

But yesterday, Councillor Marie Boulton, the depute council leader and leader of the Independents, announced she plans to propose an amendment at the meeting in a bid to secure an alternative way forward.