Aberdeen city gardens passed

[cerbfan]

With this and the AWPR being passed/cleared in the same week it actually looks like Aberdeen is finally being dragged into the modern age. Much smaller majority than I thought it would be however just goes to show how many people still won't accept change.

http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.aspx/26662...

[MGZRod]

Still not impressed by this unfortunately.

[danrc]

Maybe this will spur on some regeneration on Union Street. It's starting to look like George Street!

[cerbfan]

MGZRod said:

Still not impressed by this unfortunately.

Are you impressed by the current gardens?

[Hollowpockets]

Good news!

The city needs to progress to succeed and prosper on many levels, if the bypass and new gardens were not approved it risks setting a precedent for future projects, the city would likely wither and fade with the older generation (of an anti change mentality) if investment and development is not continued.

Aberdeen is a good place to live but it could be great if pointed in the right direction.

Graham

[MGZRod]

cerbfan said:

Are you impressed by the current gardens?

Not impressed, but would rather they were revamped. In a perfect world etc etc!

Look at Valencia, the artistic science museums. They fit in to the surrounding area because it's a massive, modern, sunny city. Aberdeen is more of a town. Would much rather see a traditional design put in that won't look outdated in 20 years.

Plus, can't be bothered working with a massive construction site directly opposite my office window

[Ian974]

AWPR: excellent, and needed.
Spending £90,000,000 of public money on a park? Not so bright.
When you consider just how much it could be tidied up with £1-2 million, I just don't see why we need to spend so much money on it.

[onesickpuppy]

danrc said:

Maybe this will spur on some regeneration on Union Street. It's starting to look like George Street!

This, 100%. Union Street is quite frankly st at the moment, hopefully this will bring in some decent retailers.

[cc8s]

I think Union Square did a good job of draining life out of Union Street. Why dont they use the space under the new gardens for parking?

[MGZRod]

onesickpuppy said:

This, 100%. Union Street is quite frankly st at the moment, hopefully this will bring in some decent retailers.

With a few of the current retailers struggling I sadly doubt this'll be the case.

[onesickpuppy]

cc8s said:

I think Union Square did a good job of draining life out of Union Street. Why dont they use the space under the new gardens for parking?

Union Street was dying long before Union Square came along.

[scz4]

onesickpuppy said:

Union Street was dying long before Union Square came along.

Should of been pedestrianised years ago. Hopefully this might brighten up the city centre a little. Lets just hope the proposals introduce what has obviously been previously banned in Aberdeen, some greenery!!!

[theEditor]

Is this a double-edged sword ?

The Council intends to take a loan of £92m to partly-fund this development, bearing in mind that it is reportedly already in debt to the tune of £560m.

Not disputing that the city centre desperately needs regenerating and a new vibrant, beating heart, adversely could this mean that residents can expect to pay, for example, higher parking charges, endure more potholes (!) etc; and expect fewer services such as cuts in bin collections, reduced street lighting, less infrastructure maintenance etc etc. in order to offset the huge debt to which the city council has now committed ?

[KENZ]

Long overdue. Plans look amazing, can't wait to see a few gigs there. It really is a huge area and will link up town centre.

[MarkRSi]

Heard about this last night, I'm sure it will look stunning... but hope it doesn't turn into Aberdeens 'Holyrood'. Like Ian says it could probably be tidied up for a lot less?

I take it the road under Union street (Denburn?) will still exist, running under the new park? - ETA I hope so, might be a good place for some tunnel runs in future...

Edited by MarkRSi on Saturday 3rd March 09:48

[slipstream 1985]

askt he people of edinburgh how good the pedestrianisation of princes street is, 100s of smokey busses and a ring of traffic chaos try to circle it rather than pass through.

[foz01]

It's going to be funded by an additional city centre retail tax isn't it?

Can't come soon enough in my opinion

[lambo_xx]

I have to say I’m glad it went through. Personally I don't like the new design but I think it will be a nice addition to our city centre and certainly a improvement on what is there already. Having said that I do not understand what they are going to do with all the space underneath the raised park? Surely it would be logical to out a car park under there?

[KENZ]

lambo_xx said:

I have to say I’m glad it went through. Personally I don't like the new design but I think it will be a nice addition to our city centre and certainly a improvement on what is there already. Having said that I do not understand what they are going to do with all the space underneath the raised park? Surely it would be logical to out a car park under there?

Can't find the link but the plans have three levels and parking is at the bottom.

[istoo]

the ORIGINAL plans arent bad to be honest, by that i refer to the peacock arts group work, keeping the slope and extending outwards to great a modern civic heart. Aberdeen was very civic minded historaically. The architectural works in Aberdeen until that point were good then for some reason forgot the civic spaces, cite John Smith, Archibald Simpsons, ie the monkey house, marschall college pay heed to the material of the citys nickname. It would be good to see some of the vast wealth here be put to the right cause

For my sins, I studied architecture in Aberdeen and the gardens then was always an annual project and RGU spent a lot of time and effort in the area, which eventually aided the peacock arts developments which had years of architectural consideration. Personally i like what they had on the table at the point in time before this became a public interest.

The Woodism that appeared two years ago was a noble idea very poorly excuted and never addressed the real archietctural issues, ignored all the years of masterplanning that happened previously. It was all in a bit of a rush and threw money at a space, which does need developing to take it inline with the current century. The noble cause should have been to step in and aid the peacock arts to develop what they have struggled to get funding for. Woody was half right, but its got the debate open and very public. And i am glad the city has recognised it has some pride. For the wealth of the city its archietcture is poor compared to every other scottish city in the last century, its starting to improve and getting this right is critical. Done well this could be great but the previous "carnbuncle" was just that. More shops and carparks, perfect, thats a real civic centre to bind a commmunity...

I can go on and on, but i will refrain. Passing this could be good, buit will go entirely to what is awarded, if the public involvement continues one hopes it makes Aberdeen the place it should be, and Woody gets behind the right team and i do beleive this could be a winner. However i also dont have a lot of faith in the beurocracy locally, lets hope they get this choice right.

Now, worth a watch a few years ago, but offkilter (Jonathon Meade did a very good piece on aberdeen, please watch it all, its worth it) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNbc7NeW3Wg his voice grates but his dialogue is very good.

if you cant watch the whole 50 minutes, this segment, skip to 4:30 in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxW1iHNhZdk&fea...