Reject city square at your peril, business bosses warn

ABERDEEN'S "already tarnished international reputation" could be irreparably damaged if the council does not back controversial plans to create a new civic square, according to business leaders.

In a letter delivered to councillors, more than 50 prominent members of the business community backed the vision of oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood to transform Union Terrace Gardens into a new 140 million City Square.

Sir Ian, chairman of the Aberdeen-based Wood Group, has already pledged to invest 50m of his personal fortune in the scheme, which recently failed to win the backing of the citizens of Aberdeen in a public consultation exercise.

Scotland's second richest man has threatened to walk away from the project and withdraw his financial support should the council fail to back it at a special meeting of the local authority on 19 May.

The letter's signatories include Sir Moir Lockhead, head of global transport giant FirstGroup, Martin Gilbert, the chief executive of Aberdeen Asset management, Aberdeen Football Club chairman Stewart Milne and Tom Smith, chairman of the Aberdeen City and Shire economic forum.

The letter states: "Aberdeen City Council should be very concerned about the very real damage that rejection of this 140m investment will cause to Aberdeen City's already tarnished reputation.

"Around the world, we will be known as the city which turned down a 50m private sector donation towards an ambitious and much-needed public infrastructure development at a time when other councils throughout the UK would have grasped it with open arms.

"As businesses employing 40,000 people locally with a combined turnover of 13 billion, we would like some reassurance from our city council that this opportunity will not be denied simply due to misunderstanding of the project among the public and an inability to appreciate the very real impact that high quality civic amenities and an excellent city centre can have on the regional economy.

"It is absolutely essential that the council supports this project to enable it to progress to the next stage – an international design competition."

The business leaders call the project "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity". They add: "While public opinion has been divided, we believe a significant number of the silent majority have expressed a clear desire to pursue it.

"If we let this window close, the clear message will be that we do not have the ambition or the foresight to prevent a downward spiral that will see a serious decline in our economy."

But yesterday Councillor Willie Young, a supporter of the rival Peacock Arts Centre scheme, condemned the apparent failure of the business leaders to pledge their own financial support for the scheme.

Mr Young, secretary of the labour group, said: "What strikes me as remarkable about the letter from the 50 business people is that not one of them is prepared to put their money where their pen is. If they can't back up their letter with hard cash then don't gripe from the sidelines."