Public debate over the future of Union Terrace Gardens.

I attended a public debate at the Salvation Army Citadel building in Aberdeen last night where a local MSP, Frank Dornan, had organised a discussion over the proposals in Union Terrace Gardens. All sides where represented; Tom Smith (ACSEF) and Sir Ian Wood presented their controversial proposals to deck over the gardens, Elly Rothnie (Peacocks) and Edgar Gonzalez discussed the smaller, less invasive Peacock scheme, David McClean offered an impartial, non biased architectural view of the Gardens and their history, and finally Allan Garvie, former head of the Shire Planning department presented a technical appraisal of the planning system.

It was a really interesting debate, with all parties representing their views eloquently. To be honest I do not support Sir Ian Wood's vision, but I can see how generous he is being especially with his contribution to our economy in the North East. I struggle to understand how misguided he is though; I feel that his idea is about 30 years out of date. We have learned from the terrible planning mistakes that our Towns and City councils have made in the past though concreting over public parks, and it seems that the only person who has not learned, or who is refusing to change their mind, is Sir Ian Wood.

The 300 strong audience (about 80% who were against the ACSEF backed idea) were encouraged to ask factual questions, but as expected there were a lot of passionate and emotional speakers who offered statements rather than queries. This meant that a lot of the debate was taken up by rather inept and repetitive points which detracted from the organisers intention.. Nevertheless I was extremely proud to see so many people turn up and make their views known. I ended up leaving the meeting with a lot more respect for Sir Ian as he conducted himself very well in the face of such adversity, and he did not have to turn up at all. I am glad that all of us are looking towards the future and that we share the same vision. Let's hope some form of sensitive compromise can be reached.

I will comment on my views of the two schemes at a later date, the above was a quick review of last night's proceedings.

Bill.