Clash over Aberdeen’s city revamp

THE Labour leader of Aberdeen City Council yesterday angrily accused 100 city business leaders of attempting to dictate council policy on the divisive Union Terrace Gardens scheme.

Councillor Barney Crockett launched his attack after all 43 councillors on the local authority received a letter from the prominent business figures, warning of the long-term damage to the city if controversial plans for the transformation of the Victorian gardens are abandoned.

A meeting of the council is to be held on 22 August when councillors are expected to vote between a call by the majority Labour group on the coalition administration to scrap the project and a motion by the SNP opposition to continue with the £140 million project, championed by oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood.

The letter to councillors states: “We are urging you to seriously consider the long-term implications of ‘scrapping’ one of the most exciting and ambitious opportunities to regenerate the city centre and reverse its decline this century.”