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New Stuff, Just In
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Things To Be Keeping An Eye On
Our Programme for 2010-11 - see our page Coming Events.
We are building a new website at www.aberdeencivicsociety.org.uk. This Beehive website will remain available as an archive facility.
Bridge Street: an amusing news story re naked cavortings up on a roof, but there is a wider significance. Bridge St is a major city-centre thoroughfare, linking Union St with Guild St; but the upper floors of the building in question would seem to be empty and at least semi-derelict (as with so many other large buildings in the city centre) whilst even the ground-floor shop premises, formerly occupied by Jessop's, are described as being empty and in a derelict condition; and a second-floor roof collapses under the presumably modest weight of a teenage girl. Much of Bridge St is like this - magnificent but largely empty granite buildings, e.g., the Victoria Buildings of 1883, dominating the view from Guild St, in which even the ground-floor premises are either boarded up or in v. poor condition. Why is ACC seemingly hell-bent on throwing away public money on a largely unwanted City Square when the basic fabric of our city centre is falling apart all around us?
Useful website: otheraberdeen.blogspot.com. Or Google other aberdeen psychogeography.
Also Facebook: Hidden Aberdeen and Run-Down Aberdeen.
Jottings, Mon 12th July 2010, warm & sunny. Left car in the Denburn car park, walked under the Viaduct and into Union Terrace Gardens, the one substantial 'green space' in Aberdeen city centre - beautiful, verdant, quiet & restful and well-maintained as always by ACC Parks & Gardens staff. A fair number of people inc women with children sitting around. No drunks. Trees all seem in rude health, contra ACSEF propaganda. On to Union Street. Awful, tacky Sports Direct shop frontage still in evidence, months after we were assured by ACC Planning Dept that 'it would be dealt with'. To the Oxfam Bookshop in Back Wynd, then down the west side of Market Street so as to view the impressive facades on the east side. Into Hadden Street and the Green. As part of the Green Townscape Heritage Initiative, the streets around the Green have been pulled up and resurfaced with what appear to be small cobblestones and made level with the pavements, resulting in an impression of greater spaciousness. Large rectangular enclosures have been constructed from synthetic granite blocks, as along the side of the 1970s Aberdeen Markets building, to accommodate trees and possibly other plants. We are back in the expensive territory of container gardening, high-maintenance and labour-intensive if the containers are not to become a squalid mess and if the trees are to survive. We doubt if ACC can afford the manpower to do this thing properly. An unusually large number of people in the Green at 3 pm of a weekday, mostly sitting outside the restaurants on the north (Union St) side. The Market Arms pub at the corner of Hadden St/Stirling St and the Old King's Highway pub on the south side of the Green both seem busy enough. The view to the west of the Green as bad as ever. The former Trinity Mall, now The Mall Aberdeen, is a huge and truly ugly building, perhaps seen at its worst from the lower end of Bridge Street, but it looks little better from the Green, Rennie's Wynd and Wapping Street. More resurfacing, small cobblestones and mock-granite rectangular enclosures in Trinity Street, behind the Tivoli Theatre, and in Carmelite Street. Up the Back Wynd Stairs, the treads in poor condition and litter & detritus in evidence. Across Union Street and back down into Union Terrace Gardens, extraordinarily quiet, verdant and restful after the traffic up on the main drag. Only the crumbling ruin of the Triple Kirks spoils the aspect. It is, however, home to nesting peregrine falcons, and the presence of these top predators is indicative of the existence of much other wildlife, lower down the food chain, resident in the Gardens. And so under the Denburn Viaduct, past His Majesty's Theatre and back to the motor.
Then & Now: Ian Millar's invaluable slot in the Evening Express of 1st July 2010 depicts George St in 1963 and as it is today. Then - busy, lots of ordinary folk going about, delivery vans, retail & commercial activity; a discernable economic base, in fact; now - the Clydesdale Bank at the corner with Spring Garden has been converted into a pub, ground-floor shoppies into residential flats, nothing much going on, no people to be seen at all apart from the odd hoodie skulking about, traffic-calming measures in place but no actual traffic to be calmed. And so much of down-town Aberdeen is like this nowadays.
City Square/Gardens Project: some construction engineering issues arise: surely there must be problems about creating a 3-4 storey steel & concrete building in a deep hole in the ground, a river valley, a natural drainage sump, topped by a vast (6.5-acre) and largely flat concrete expanse - where does the rainwater go - the more so when businesses will be operating in the 'concourse' directly underneath and when the roof has to be load-bearing, able to support (potentially) large numbers of people, large expanses of (waterlogged) turf, soil, shrubs & trees and very heavy 'water features', all whilst having to accommodate the variation in levels from Union Terrace down to Belmont Street and some simulation of the topography of the present Gardens? Such a structure is bound to include seams and joints that water will penetrate, filtering its way down through the structure. And what about the effect of normal seasonal weather variation, from winter to summer, frost to thaw, drought to flood? And self-seeded plants, sycamores etc and wee beasties chiselling their way in? And the toxic soup of stagnant water, fast-food detritus, urine, vomit, bird poo etc, nicely warmed up by the sun up above and commercial activity below decks? And the whole insanitary mess to be swept, cleaned, cleared of snow & ice, salted & gritted at the expense of the City & People of Aberdeen? And what about lighting? Is the entire CS/GP to be illuminated all night, every night, at huge financial & environmental cost? Or is it to be a huge, threatening blacked-out morass of criminal & anti-social behaviour, right at the heart of our city? And who will pay for policing this vast area, night and day?
A look around Dundee on Sat 12th June. Their new(ish) Overgate retail mall is approximately similar to Aberdeen's Union Square, but is much better integrated with the surrounding city centre, whereas Union Square is out on a limb, almost like an offshore island relative to the traditional retail heart of Aberdeen. We would guess that the Overgate mall attracts customers into Dundee city centre, to the benefit of shops etc outside and around the mall, whereas we suspect that Union Square subtracts from business activity in Aberdeen city centre.
Friends Of Union Terrace Gardens: a new group just formed. See their page on Facebook. Also a website at: http://friendsofutg.org
City Development Company: a reliable source informs us that the establishment of a CDC was discussed at a meeting of ACC Policy & Strategy Committee on 9th June 2009 ... external consultants had appraised 12 land assets owned by ACC, with a view to demonstrating the development potential available to the Council through its asset base. The 12 sites considered were: AECC, Bon Accord Baths, Chapel Street Car Park, Denburn Health Centre & Car Park, Granitehill, Greenferns, Land At Carnie, Land At Haudagain Roundabout, St Nicholas House, Summerhill Education Centre, Union Terrace Gardens, Westburn Park and Park House. The report noted that there was significant economic potential within these 12 sites.
Our June 2010 Newsletter contains articles on:
- Recent Planning Applications
- Union Terrace Gardens
- Justice Mill Lane
- Castlegate
- Aberdeen Gets It In The Eye
- Memories of Aberdeen 1939-45 by Jim Pittendrigh.
See our page ACS Newsletters 1.
ACC decided in favour of the City Square Project on Wed 19th May. We must respect the democratic process, but many citizens find this outcome incomprehensible. It appears that the decisive stage was the split vote, 14-14, on Labour and Conservative amendments which presented a straight choice between the Peacock scheme and the City Square Project. (It should be noted that only 14 of the 39 eligible councillors voted positively for the City Square Project at this stage. The other 25 councillors voted for Peacock or abstained.) The split-vote impasse was resolved by the Lord Provost, who deployed his casting vote in support of the City Square Project, effectively killing off the Peacock option. We are advised that conventional practice in the event of a split vote on a planning proposal is that the Chairman votes in support of the 'status quo', i.e., against the proposal. The 'status quo' in this case might be considered to be the Peacock scheme, which had planning permission of long standing, or it might alternatively be to leave the Gardens alone. It certainly wasn't the City Square Project. Whether this provides sufficient basis for an Appeal remains to be seen. Later, councillors voted 20-7 on a choice between two versions of the City Square Project. In effect, 27 out of a total of 39 eligible councillors voted to support the ACSEF/Ian Wood City Square Project, and 12 abstained.
The financial implications of this are intimidating, to say the least. ACSEF is a public-private sector partnership with no assets of its own, nor even an income stream. It is not a corporate entity, like a private company or PLC, whose debts are its own problem and no-one else's. The City Square Project will almost certainly cost upwards of £300 million, of which around £250 million will have to be borrowed. Banks are highly unlikely to lend such sums without very convincing guarantees of repayment from ACC, which would in turn require that major civic assets - land and property - be put up as collateral. Are we ready to mortgage council-owned buildings, parks and gardens so as to finance the City Square Project?
Too many of our elected representatives and commentators seem to be mesmerised by Sir Ian Wood's £50 million; less a 'gift', more an opportunity to get the city into hock - potentially to the extent of around £250 million, which at a 5% interest rate would cost the town £12,500,000 p.a. in interest payments alone - and for the sake of a bizarrely oversized and inappropriately located City Square which few of us wanted or saw the point of in the first place.
Other issues are surfacing: e.g., what is going to happen to the adjacent (west) side of Belmont Street? This presents an exceptionally attractive vista as seen from Union Bridge, Union Terrace, the Viaduct and the Gardens, resembling, with all its turrets and spires, a medieval German townscape. Will it all be demolished? Or will only individual buildings be demolished? In either case, compulsory purchase would be required. The much-quoted CSP estimate of £140 million total cost makes no allowance for this, as for much else.
Engineering problems have also been highlighted. The CSP involves digging out (not 'raising') the Gardens and replacing same with a 3-4 storey steel and concrete structure topped off by a concrete 'lid' or plinth. Such structures are seldom ever completely right, even when new, and typically need endless remediation & maintenance work thereafter. These problems would be compounded when, as with the CSP, the entire structure is effectively underground. Nor should we forget the underlying Den Burn, culverted or not, or that Railtrack require access to their lines.
Union Terrace Gardens - the BBC Scotland and STV had news items direct from the Gardens on Tues 18th May, in advance of the crucial ACC debate on Wed 19th. A lovely, sunny day, the Gardens looking beautiful and lots of people going about, sitting on the grass etc. Who says the Gardens are 'unused'?
Union Terrace Gardens: interesting stuff in the Sunday Herald of 16th May 2010 - see their website. ACSEF estimate their City Square Project would cost £140 million. (Other estimates double this figure.) Sir Ian Wood has pledged £50 million and ACSEF expect the private sector to contribute another £20 million. ACSEF propose to borrow the remaining £70 million, to be financed by the anticipated increase in business rates revenue for the area. However, PriceWaterhouseCooper say that Aberdeen would first of all have to get the Scottish Parliament to pass legislation such that money generated by increased business rates revenue remains in the city, rather than going to central government for redistribution as at present. The PWC report also questions whether the City Square Project would generate enough income to cover the interest on the £70 million loan in its first years. At the usual interest rate of 3%, the £70 million loan would cost the city £150 million over a period of 25 years. And in the likely event of the City Square Project going over-budget, i.e., costing more than ACSEF's estimate of £140 million, the excess would have to be borne by ACC, adding substantially to the required loan/debt. The City Square, as envisaged, will also be expensive to maintain, in terms of street-cleaning, snow-clearing & gritting in winter, policing etc, all of which costs will fall on ACC.
And from the Technical Appraisal by Halliday Fraser Munro of the City Square Project: "The criteria include the provision of the following: level access from all the surrounding streets, being Union Bridge, Union Terrace, Denburn Viaduct and Belmont Street ... steel-frame construction with pre-cast concrete planks can be designed to maximise the amount of construction achieved during pre-determined possession time-frames ... the pre-cast concrete planks would form a temporary or permanent deck as required. Deliverable uses include: multi-storey car park - 490 spaces on basement floors; potential income £250,000 to £300,000 p.a. Restaurants/Cafes, Delicatessen usages. Hotel/Conference facilities - operators may offer around £500,000 p.a. for a 100-120 bed hotel. Retail: "aspirational" retailers are unlikely to consider the scheme. Boutique uses in conjunction with restaurant/cafe and tourism operations would be attractive ... there is an opportunity to provide a large-size unit (shop) with frontage to a good secondary retailing pitch on Union Street (possibly meaning Union Bridge).
Union St: Capitol Cinema, latterly Chicago Rocks & Jumpin' Jaks bar/nightclub: proposal to convert to an 8-9 storey hotel and refurbishment of the original 1930s Art Deco restaurant.
Justice Mill Lane: regarding the huge Radisson Park Inn hotel, which is shaping up to be a seriously ugly building, a correspondent writes: "It is a shame that the architect, who has done really nice work in Edinburgh where he is based, should when he comes to Aberdeen turn out such a poor project. Back at Uni, there was rumoured to exist an "Aberdeen Curse On Modern Architecture", to the effect that any new development is done poorly and that any decent architect coming to Aberdeen to build something good would end up having to stoop to the lowest point in his career or see his proposals rejected and scrapped. On a more positive note, the new Sports Village at Aberdeen Uni has been well done and their new Library is going full steam ahead, so let us hope that the Aberdeen Curse is on its way out".
Justice Street: drugs rehab centre & surrounding residential development of 53 flats ongoing in the former Timmer Market car park, extending round the corner of Justice St/East North St at the Castlehill roundabout. Once again, the development crowds on to the narrow footpath/pavement. Pedestrians will be forced into uncomfortably close proximity to the heaviest of vehicular traffic on this inner ring road. The new buildings may be said to continue the curve of the existing Justice St tenements round to East North St, but we seem to be in the familiar territory of gross over-development of the available site. And the 53 new flats, to be allocated to people on the ACC housing waiting list, will be oppressively close to the heavy and 24/7 vehicular traffic of the Castlehill roundabout and vicinity, surely one of the most bleak and charmless areas in the whole of Aberdeen, much of it in the familiar Stalinist/Brutalist style. A local councillor remarked: "It's not everyone's cup of tea, having a drug place in the city centre, but it had to go somewhere". The point is that the Castlegate isn't just "somewhere". It is one of the most historic and (potentially) impressive parts of Aberdeen, affording far and away the best views of the city centre, but visited by too few of us, and fewer still, no doubt, now that the Timmer Market car park has ben built over. And the "drugs place" could and should have been based at ARI Forresterhill. Our town can take only so many hits, in the form of seriously bad and ill-judged new developments. See also Justice Mill Lane, Shiprow & Guild Street.
Private Eye (No. 1259) returns to the subject of Union Terrace Gardens: "It is interesting that the gates of UTG were suddenly locked by the Council without warning at 4 pm on both Saturday & Sunday the weekend before last (20-21st March), obliging people enjoying the Gardens on a sunny day to climb over the gates to get out. Could it be that this was to give credence to the (oft-repeated) claim by ACSEF that the Gardens are not much used, thus to further the dreadful project to fill in the Denburn valley and create a vast and grotesque commercial 'city square' in its place?" Who can say? But it is a standard device by would-be developers to run-down, restrict access or to simply neglect public services, amenities and buildings, until the claim of 'underuse' can be deployed to justify their nefarious schemes. For Private Eye's earlier piece on UTG, see our page ACS Newsletters 2.
Justice Mill Lane: the ongoing 8-storey Radisson Park Inn and the adjacent Travelodge hotel developments now completely dominate JML from Hardgate to the Bon Accord Baths, reducing this stretch of JML to a sunless alley. The long side elevations of the new buildings press right up against the narrow & uneven pavement adjoining the narrow & heavily-trafficked JML, leaving no room for traffic noise and pollution to disperse. The formerly attractive corner site linking JML to Hardgate Brae and Strawberrybank has been completely destroyed. The front (east) elevation of the Radisson Park Inn completely blocks off the view up JML from Langstane Place & Bon Accord Street, whilst the small houses on Bon Accord Terrace are overwhelmed. This seems to be part of a continuing trend for new developments - Boots/Currys at the Bridge of Dee, Jury's Inn on Guild St and City Wharf on Shiprow - to occupy every last inch of an available site, to the extent of crowding on to pavements, footpaths, green areas and public space, and to be grossly out of proportion to the adjacent buildings, streetscape and townscape.
In addition to the four hotel developments already under way in the Justice Mill Lane area, we note an application to convert the former Capitol Cinema in Union St, latterly the Jumpin' Jaks and Chicago Rocks nightspots, into an 8-9 storey hotel. The original 1930s Art Deco restaurant is to be refurbished. The Capitol building extends right back to JML, as does the adjacent Bell's Hotel, itself the subject of an application for a rearwards 11-storey extension on to JML - the site currently occupied by O'Donoghue's bar. This does begin to look like an absurd degree of over-provision of hotel accommodation in Justice Mill Lane & vicinity.
ACS Response to ACSEF Scheme for Union Terrace Gardens; also a Letter To ACSEF by Diane Morgan, and Union Terrace Gardens by Gavin Stamp of Private Eye: see our page ACS Newsletters 2.
Union Terrace Gardens: comment by our chums in the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland: "The current Peacock and City Square proposals, which singly and as currently presented would be unfortunate for the long-term ambience and well-being of the city centre, could provide an opportunity for all interested parties to get together and produce a sympathetic scheme which respects the history and beauty of the Gardens and their surrounds. This would include complete preservation of the north (Viaduct) end of the Gardens, with provision for replacement with appropriate trees, the development of the arcade below Union Terrace and the provision of well-designed terracing over the railway and dual-carriageway at the south end, adjoining Union Bridge, to improve access from Union Street, Union Terrace and Belmont Street. This would, for a fraction of the costs under discussion, restore the Gardens and improve the area adjoining Union Bridge without the need for any commercially-led development which would rob Aberdeen for ever of this valuable city-centre oasis."
Jottings, Tues 9th March 2010: Union Square: literally more staff than customers in virtually all the shop premises except Apple and M&S on this bright, sunny weekday afternoon. Trinity St: work continues on road surfaces & pavements. The Green is deserted. Shiprow: newbiggins, half-built, no work ongoing, no change apparent since Nov. 2009, when the developer, Kenmore, went into administration. Who is going to finish this development, and when? Castlegate: looking quite impressive this sunny afternoon; a wider range of businesses in operation than we recalled, some people standing around. Union St: the 'Merchant Quarter' concept is being promoted on the railings overlooking Correction Wynd. Santander is imposing its garish red corporate shopfronts on the premises of the three building societies it took over - Abbey National, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley. Bridge St, Victoria Buildings: awful, tacky ground-floor premises facing down Guild St.
No. 23 Union Street, the Information Office at the corner of Shiprow: proposal for alterations to shopfront and new signage; seems acceptable.
Nos. 26-38 Union St: the westernmost of the two former E&M shop premises: proposal for the formation of twenty 2-bedroom flats. Car parking might be a problem.
Nos 6-14 Justice Street: application to infill shop fronts to create ground-floor flats, at the former Indian Shop at the Castle Street corner of the Citadel.
Union Terrace Gardens: proposal for a brasserie and culinary school pavilion - a circular tea shop in the lawn at the north (Viaduct) end of the Gardens. Our submission: "This proposal would occupy the most used recreational area of the Gardens and would be wholly inappropriate in this planned landscape. The applicant should be asked to investigate the possibility of conversion of some of the arcading/undercroft below Union Terrace".
No. 2 West Craibstone Street: proposal for conversion to flats, to include a rear extension facing Langstane Place - piended, slated roof & wet harl similar to the finish on the existing extension; OK.
Nos 54-55 Springbank Terrace: proposal for conversion of the existing shop premises at the corner with Bon Accord Street to create two self-contained flats; OK.
No. 2 Albyn Place: proposal for extension to existing office. Yet another attempt to extend this corner building. The proposed extension is completely out of scale with adjoining & adjacent properties - all Listed and in a prominent location in an important Conservation Area.
Rubislaw Terrace Gardens: a repeat application to create a glass & steel cafe, taking the form of a flat-roofed shed with shutters and the general ambience of a public convenience. Our submission: "The Council is to be commended for its previous refusals of this application - it is inappropriate to this area of the city, totally alien in style, scale & materials to the background of distinguished Listed houses and to the West End Conservation Area. Also, the creation of such a venture just opposite Harlaw Academy will exacerbate the dumping of litter, cans etc, which is already a problem in the Gardens".
No. 50 Queen's Road/Spademill Lane: proposal for the erection of a new office facility of 3 storeys in the back garden; garaging for 6 cars on the ground floor. No. 50, a.k.a. Rubislaw House, Listed, Category A, was built by and for John Morgan, the builder closely associated with the architects of Queen's Cross Church, J B Pirie & Arthur Clyne. Our submission: "This is an unnecessary and undesirable development within the curtilage of an A-Listed building and would require the destruction of the interesting, albeit neglected, brick-built drying loft at the north end of the garden".
Queen's Road, Albyn School: application for a fairly comprehensive extension of the facilities within the school site, the largest part of which is the creation of a new 3-storey building at the rear of No. 19 Queen's Road - the second of the four former houses which now comprise the front part of the school.
No. 27 Rubislaw Den North: Gordon House: application for change-of-use & alterations to office accommodation. No detriment to exterior. Various anomalous wings & outbuildings (later additions) to be removed.
Garthdee Road, RGU Campus: proposal for some 35,000 square metres of new teaching space, social facilities, car parking & environmental improvements, involving some fairly minor changes to the planning permission already granted.
West Cults, No. 8 Belvidere Road: proposal for erection of a new dwellinghouse at the end of the v. long rear garden, fronting on to a roadway.
Jottings, Thurs 25th Feb 2010: to presentation in Caledonian Hotel re the ACSEF & Peacock proposals for Union Terrace Gardens - very well attended. Left car in College St multi-storey, walked up, then down, Bridge St. What a manky, rundown thoroughfare this now is - narrow, congested pavements, lorries & buses right in one's face, crummy ground-floor premises and considerable difficulty getting across the road. The former Trinity Shopping Centre now goes under the name The Mall Aberdeen, thereby inviting confusion with all the other malls in Aberdeen, and in the process abandoning the ancient name of Trinity, which goes right back to the early-medieval origins of Aberdeen, to the Trinitarian Friars and their Monastery on the Green, once a royal palace, gifted them by William the Lion (1142-1214).
Our March 2010 Newsletter includes the following items:
- Planning Applications
- Editor's News & Comment, inc. the Civic Society Initiative, Union Terrace Gardens, Round & About and Naples, A Warning
- Union Terrace Gardens - extended, in-depth and expert analysis by Diane Morgan and Norman Marr.
See our page ACS Newsletters 1.
Jottings: SportsDirect, formerly Zavvi, formerly Virgin Megastore, Union St, opposite Back Wynd; a truly horrible, huge, garish & cheap-looking shopfront & signage. City Wharf, Shiprow; still no sign of work ongoing; the developer, Kenmore, went into administration last November; these huge buildings are beginning to look like a particularly monstrous white elephant. No proper pedestrian crossing at the foot of Market St - seriously dangerous. Pavements on Guild St (north side) a terrible mess of irregular, ripped-up surfaces and puddles. Whole Guild St area at 6 pm seems dingy, run-down & chaotic, anything but pedestrian-friendly - it is difficult & takes an unreasonable amount of time to make progress in any direction. Union Square has a strange 'Potemkin Village' aspect between 3-6 pm on a Thursday afternoon; large, brightly-lit shops, not many customers inside, fewer still actually exchanging money for goods. By contrast, the Apple shop is full of people, but most treat it as a free amusement arcade. The College St Car Park is now integrated into the Union Square complex; charges increased to £1 per hour. Justice Mill Lane: the huge, 8-storey hotel being built at the junction with Hardgate Brae (Strawberrybank) looms over Bon Accord Terrace Gardens as viewed from Willowbank Rd, Albury Rd & Springbank Terrace, and diminishes Archibald Simpson's elegant & symmetrical Bon Accord Crescent.
No. 206 Union St: proposal to fit out the shop & shop front to create a Sainsbury's Local store. This is the former Sofa Workshop, at the western end of Aberdeen's ugliest building, the 1960s elongated eggbox between Huntly St and the Music Hall.
No. 349 Union St: proposal for new shop front (Signature); this will restore the shop window to the full height of the opening - an improvement.
No. 73A Bon Accord St: application for demolition of existing shop/store and erection of four 2-bedroom flats. This is the wee shop in the space between two terraces of two-and-a-half storey Georgian (sort of) facades. The new building to occupy the space is two storeys high with a balcony and timber-clad top floor - flat roof - with the balcony to the front. Our submission: "While the glazed elevation to the ground & first floors is acceptable, the top storey, in the form of a timber-clad dormer with balcony, is alien in form & materials to the Georgian character of this Listed building in a Conservation Area".
No. 5 Bon Accord Square: proposal to replace timber windows with UPVC. This is a rear extension with modern windows, but still no reason for UPVC in a Conservation Area.
No. 2 West Craibstone St: application for change-of-use, alterations & extension to form seven flats. This is near the corner of Bon Accord Square backing on to Langstane Place; the extension at first floor level looks acceptable. Good to see residential usage returning to the Square.
No. 55A Westburn Rd: application for replacement windows, in hardwood - good!
No. 224 Westburn Rd: proposal for demolition of the existing rear building and erection of a single-storey extension. This is the last house on the north side before the dual carriageway; seems OK.
Nos. 279-281 North Deeside Rd, Peterculter: application for a development of 18 two-bedroom flats, on the garage site. No objection provided the design respects the scale & proportions of the adjoining housing.
No. 247 Don St, Old Aberdeen: an amended proposal for conversion of loft space & installation of Velux roof windows. This appears to be the Chapter House. The original proposal specified large Velux rooflights; the amended proposal is for the much smaller, conservation type, so no objection to the amended proposal.
Old Aberdeen/King St/Tillydrone: it is proposed to install a new parking system here with new signage and ticket machines. We have written a letter of objection against this proposal as far as it affects College Bounds, High St, Chanonry and Don St, as follows: "Old Aberdeen is an important Conservation Area nationally as well as locally and the current parking arrangements, having a limited amount of signage, appear to work satisfactorily. The installation of additional signage and ticket machines as proposed will have a detrimental effect on the whole ambience of the Conservation Area and on its priceless heritage of Listed buildings; not to mention the effect of unsightly additional vehicle parking on the streets. It should be noted that this is an area of the city where planning control must be rigorously applied and planning permission must be sought not only locally, but also referred to Historic Scotland".
No. 54 Castle St: the former Bank of Scotland, at the corner with Marischal St, now the Mercatgate Sherriff Courthouse. Application for change-of-use and modifications to the rear wing. Our submission: "The design of the replacement wing and the covering over of the bay window feature of the former Bank extension are not in keeping with this distinguished Listed building".
No. 122 Union St: the former Mothercare shop, now Peacock, a men's fashion chain. Proposal to create a new shopfront and replace six windows. We are pleased to see this long-empty shop being brought back into use.
Auchinyell Rd: proposal for Social Housing, to comprise 35 flats, on the site of the former Copper Beech pub; the flats to be in two blocks, with pitched roofs.
Lost Aberdeen: The Freedom Lands, by Diane Morgan: this book, the third and last volume of Diane Morgan's acclaimed 'Lost Aberdeen' trilogy, gives a ground-breaking account of the western side of our city. The greatest part of the Freedom Lands was comprised of the Stocket Lands and the adjoining Lands of Rubislaw, stretching in a vast semi-circle from the Low Stocket (Westburn Road) in the north to the South Parks of Rubislaw (Great Western Road) in the south. We discover land improvements, great mansions and a bevy of leading contributors to the Scottish Enlightenment, also Turkish baths and aircraft manufacture. Featuring period photographs, illustrations & maps, Diane's latest book uncovers the forgotten hamlets and communities which make up this fascinating area of Aberdeen. Published by Birlinn @ £16.99 hardback); ISBN 9 781841 588407.
Union Terrace Gardens: an article in the Times of 12th Jan 2010. Our Secretary, Mike Hewitt, is quoted as follows: "The Society objected to the Peacock scheme for UTG, because it requires the felling of mature trees, and it was (therefore) unsurprising that we had reservations about the proposed City Square, which would effectively concrete the Gardens over".
More generally: we may feel that it is difficult to assess any development proposal on the basis of little more than an "artist's impression", for what that is worth, depicting a large flat expanse of nothing much, but improbably full of people standing aimlessly about and going nowhere in particular.
The whole point of a civic hub is that it has to be right at the centre of activity; which in Aberdeen is St Nicholas Street, with a new, competing sub-centre at Union Square. The proposed Civic Square is nowhere near either St Nicholas Street or Union Square, and would therefore be doomed to be an empty, redundant space, much like the Castlegate but without the residual historical interest.
The real danger is that we throw away what we already have. Union Terrace Gardens is a striking, multi-levelled topographical feature marking the separation by the valley of the Den Burn of the medieval burgh of Aberdeen to its east from the 'New Town' to its west. The Gardens is a green space in the heart of the city, well enough used on a sunny day, which can be enjoyed by anyone walking along Union Bridge, Union Terrace, Belmont Street and the Viaduct. Access needs to be improved at the Union Bridge end, but that is all.
The right place for a Civic Square is on the site presently occupied by the soon-to-be-redundant St Nicholas House, bang up against the traditional 'retail heart' of Aberdeen and therefore a place people will go to, traverse & spend time in; and with the impressive backdrop of the genuinely iconic Marischal College. The C.16th George Skene's House would be a focal point of interest; and we might even get the C.16th Wallace Tower (actually the town house of Sir Robert Keith of Benholm, the younger brother of George Keith, the 5th Earl Marischal, who founded Marischal College) back from Tillydrone as a companion-piece.
I Love UTG: a campaign in support of Union Terrace Gardens and the proposed Peacock Arts Centre - check their website.
Merchant Quarter, Aberdeen: an interesting new promotional concept for the Green and its environs - see their website.
Naples: the Daily Telegraph of 14th Dec '09 reports on the art exhibition Back To The Baroque, concluding thus: "I'm told (the exhibition) was conceived in part to counter the horrendous publicity Naples has received in the book & film Gomorrah. Certainly during my visit the city looked enchanting. But Naples is still a Third World city in the heart of Europe, and no exercise in cultural PR can counter the reality of its endemic violence, corruption and crime. The stomach-turning smell of drains permeates the best hotels, traffic is gridlocked from early morning till late into the night, and the city is so poor ... The filth, fear and frustration I've always associated with Naples are now worse than ever. Do go - but don't carry a wallet, walk fast and keep your back to the wall". We don't want to over-simplify here, but Naples' problems seem like the familiar 'failed state' combination of failure to secure a proper, diversified economic base of (non-criminal) industry, investment & employment; failure to be serious about establishing & maintaining the rule of law and crime prevention via efficient policing and functioning courts & judges; and failures of central & local government and civic administration in relation to basic public services such as education & refuse collection, also as regards maintenance and upgrading of the civic infrastructure of transport networks, water supply, drains & sewerage. A warning to us all!
Tues 8th Dec 2009, bright & sunny, cold. To M&S, Union Square, via Riverside Drive & South Market St. When approached by this route, Union Square seems more like an edge-of-town retail complex than a down-town or city-centre shopping mall. Ample parking @ £1 per hour. The M&S shop fronts on to the car park and cannot, in fact, be accessed from within the mall. Parking Level 3 affords panoramic views. Depart Union Square on foot via main entrance/exit on Guild St. Along Guild St, past the Tivoli Theatre, across Market St and up Shiprow. The harbour is crammed full of ships. The huge City Wharf development on Shiprow seems to be at a standstill, with no work ongoing, e.g., on the Ibis Hotel. Notable that these huge new blocks have the effect of diminishing and overwhelming even the most substantial of the older buildings on the north/west side of Shiprow, e.g., Provost Ross' House, the Maritime Museum etc. Along Exchequer Row and past the 'Mercatgate' Sheriff Courthouse at the top of Marischal St; a pity that only the criminal classes now have access to this distinguished Georgian building of 1801. Walked round the Castlegate, windswept and more-or-less deserted. The former Timmer Market car park is under development - drug users' clinic - and closed off to the public. Down King St: impressive classical frontages along the Archibald Simpson side, but, as usual, no sign of any activity going on within. Very cold hereabouts. Up Union St and down the Back Wynd Stairs to the Green; the Stairs are clean enough but the treads on the steps are curiously broken up. A busker is in occupation of on the half-way landing, inoffensive, no snarling dog on a string. An old mattress is lying adjacent to the foot of the Stairs. The Green is virtually empty of humanity at 1.30 pm on this sunny weekday afternoon. The Council are laying down grey granite cobblestones or setts on Stirling St, Trinity St (behind the Tivoli) and Exchange St, adjacent to Musa; presumably part of The Green Townscape Heritage Initiative. Back on to Guild St: the combined entrance to Union Square and the railway station is quite impressive, albeit somewhat overwhelmed by and in the shadow of the adjacent 8-storey monolith of the Jury's Inn hotel.
Kittybrewster School: once again under threat of closure. Like the former Causewayend School, an impressive granite building from around 1900 and an important community hub. It is argued that the locations of these old schools reflect the geographical distribution of the population upwards of a century ago and that families have since moved elsewhere; but how was that achieved, and why?
Our Dec 2009 Newsletter includes the following items:
- Planning Matters
- Editor's News & Comment: inc City Centre Crime & Disorder, Ferryhill Concerns, Schools Exam Results
- Two Aberdeens, Town & Gown
- Civic Soc Awards 2009
- Union Square, reviewed by Diane Morgan
- Black Gold, Silver City 2
- Centre To Edge: Aspirations & Hopes, by Norman Marr.
See our page ACS Newsletters 1.
Private Eye's architectural correspondent 'Piloti' (believed to be Gavin Stamp) remarks: "It was depressing that the (English) Civic Trust went bust in April '09. Set up in 1957, it had lost its way in recent years and was victim of the recession and ts own financial over-ambition. But the Civic Trust had done a huge amount of good, so it is cheering that an effort is being made to set up a new organisation to pursue similar core aims. The Civic Society Initiative aims to provide "a national voice and support for the civic society movement". And this is sorely needed. Embarrassed politicians are constantly mouthing weasel words about more democracy. But real democracy in Britain is represented by the myriad local societies and action groups established by volunteers, usually to resist some monstrous threat originating with property developers and their allies. And such societies have many more members than all the political parties put together."
Cairness House in Lonmay, near Fraserburgh, has won the Award for the Best Restored Georgian House at the 2009 Georgian Group Architectural Awards.
Union Square: interesting & informative article on Retail Week website.
Adelphi Action Group - see their website.
The Civic Society's Awards for 2009 - see our page Annual Awards & Commendations or our Dec 2009 Newsletter.
Rosemount Councillor Bill Cormie says re down-town Aberdeen's alcohol-fuelled night-time disorder: "Quite apart from specific incidents, the whole of down-town feels on a knife-edge ... it's a scary place to be".
You can now e-mail the Society at:
aberdeencivicsociety@hotmail.com.
See our page Contact Us.
City Centre, Union Square: the Scotsman of 30th Oct '09 quotes Tom Smith, Chairman of Aberdeen City & Shire Economic Future (ACSEF), as follows: "Union Street is no longer a hub of retail activity (which) has moved north to the Bon Accord & St Nicholas Centres and now south to Union Square, stretching out the city centre's 'footprint' in an unhelpful way. The city needs a heart, a point from which all activity & purpose appears to emanate, a meeting-place from which the city opens up to the visitor". ACSEF maintains that the advent of the new Union Square complex highlights the need for to transform the city centre by the development of a new civic square above Union Terrace Gardens.
These are revealing comments, suggesting:
(a) Union Street has effectively been written off.
(b) Union Square is in the wrong place, is too remote from and fails to complement the traditional retail heart of St Nicholas Street & George Street.
(c) Aberdeen lacks a clear & identifiable centre of activity, a single public space and cluster of shops and amenities to which all roads lead. We used to have such, but we have largely thrown it away.
(d) A new civic square spanning Union Terrace Gardens is proposed as the solution to (a), (b) & (c) above, but with no indication as to how yet another big flat expanse of nothing much - see Castlegate, Broad Street & the Green - will resolve these underlying problems.
Castlegate: the proposed Observation Wheel: this is a mighty device 130' high and 116' across, just west of the Mercat Cross and affecting the long view down Union St. Our submission: "The siting of such a device in the manner proposed would have a detrimental effect on the west-to-east view down Union St and on the amenity of the city centre generally". ACC have refused permission, for safety reasons - underground gas pipes.
No. 4 Chapel Court, Castlegate: application for a new window & a gate, to give access to a wee car park within the back garden of the Priest's House, no doubt required to compensate for the loss of parking space locally consequent on the crazy ongoing redevelopment of the former Timmer Market Car Park.
No. 19 Belmont St, the Wild Boar: proposal for external frontage works; an inoffensive new fascia with hanging topiary baskets.
No. 48 Bridge St, Victoria Buildings: application for new windows for part of the first floor; this is, we hope, the first stage of the rehabilitation of the 1880s Victoria Buildings, with its splendid Ellis & Wilson frontage facing up Guild St.
No. 7 Guild Square, The Atrium: application for the infill of one of the big sandstone arches in the Listed railway station facade. if all the arches are treated the same, there should be no problem.
No 14 Albert St: application for erection of a complete set of traditional iron railings on this house on the "cottage side" of Albert St.
No. 27 Rubislaw Den North, Gordon House: application for change-of-use of this impressive 1880s Scottish Baronial mansion from nursing home to offices, with parking for 38 cars.
Gerrard St, Mounthooly: proposal for demolition of the derelict former Friendship Hall and its replacement by a modern building, square with a large expanse of glass, located along the north side of the former John Knox Free Church.
Ferryhill Concerns: a Public Meeting was organised by Ferryhill Community Council on 3rd Sept '09 to discuss concerns relating to the number of hostels in the area and a perceived increase in crime and anti-social behaviour. It emerged that ACC receive about 2,500 applications from the homeless each year, and has only 150 flats and three hostels available to meet their legal obligation to accommodate the homeless. The hostels provide accommodation on a short-stay basis of 28 days maximum. The person then leaves, becomes homeless again, and the Council then has to find them somewhere else to stay. Ferryhill's problem is that it contains too many large houses suitable for conversion into hostels; other agencies besides ACC operate hostels in the area. The Police observed that, of 213 crimes committed in Crown Street in the past nine months, only 9 were connected to the one hostel there. It was noted that the methadone dispensary in Millburn Street results in a local concentration of anti-social behaviour. There are problems of drinking and anti-social behaviour in Bon Accord Terrace Gardens. The nursery school in Bon Accord Street no longer takes its children into the Gardens - hypo syringes etc. ACC commented that the council housing stock amounts to 23,000 properties and there is presently a waiting list of 7,000. Only about 100 properties are vacant at any one time, generally whilst being repaired or redecorated.
Unfortunately, much of the above is what we see & hear all over the city centre nowadays. Union St used to be an expensive place to buy a drink, so problem drinkers went elsewhere. The present extraordinary concentration of pubs & bars on the west end of Union St, Holburn Junction, down Holburn St and along Justice Mill Lane has driven drinks prices down to rock-bottom and attracts problem drinkers and drug-abusers into the surrounding area. The fact is that the present concentration of alcohol-outlets is incompatible with the needs & entitlements of the local resident population, in Ferryhill as elsewhere.
Schools Exam Results: the proportion of age-16+ students achieving five or more Standard Grade Credit passes in 2009 was as follows: Scotland=35%, Aberdeen City=30%, Aberdeenshire=38% and Moray=39%. This is the first year, to our knowledge, that Aberdeen City has dropped significantly below the Scottish average; something rather surprising, and not in a good way, bearing in mind what most of the Scotland people actually live in is like relative to oil-boom Aberdeen. And results like these are not consistent with the kind of place Aberdeen needs to be, if it is to compete in the knowledge economy of the future. The most likely explanation for this state of affairs is the continued exodus of middle-income earners and their families from the City to the Shire. Demographically, Aberdeen is becoming "hollowed out" by its shortage of affordable family-size houses, with only the upper- and lower-income groups remaining. This is a serious matter; all experience is that towns and neighbourhoods which lose, or are unable to attract & retain, the broad band of middle-income earners, the most economically-dynamic part of the population, are doomed, finished, over.
City Centre Crime Statistics: an interesting Reader's Letter in the Evening Express of 17th Sept '09: "Many Aberdonians now actively avoid going into the city centre at night, or even travelling through it ... we have effectively lost our city centre, and there seems little chance of reclaiming it any time soon". This issue underlies long-standing problems as regards the regeneration of city centre locales such as the Green and Castlegate. Most business activity and investment evolves spontaneously and is forthcoming in response to entrepreneurs' perceptions of profitable opportunities, which in turn depends on there being customers, actual and potential, whether from the local resident population or visitors from outside. The perceived breakdown of basic law & order in the city centre drives local residents out and visitors away, such that the only profitable opportunities remaining relate to the supply of ever-cheaper lager and kebabs to teenagers, which is no basis for the regeneration of neighbourhoods and communities.
Excellent BBC4 prog on the architecture of Aberdeen by Jonathan Meades - 'Out of Kilter', the first in a series of three about Scotland; can be viewed on YouTube.
The Carbuncle Cup 2009 for the worst new building in Britain has been awarded by Building Design newspaper to the new Liverpool Pier Head Ferry Terminal. Aberdeen's Union Plaza office development, in Union Row, was long-listed. See their website: www.bdonline.co.uk. Also check: www.badbritisharchitecture.blogspot.com.
Nos. 43-45 Market St & Shiprow: Douglas Hotel extension: proposal to add some 70 bedrooms to the Douglas Hotel, along with an office block. The new building will be of 5, 7 & 11 storeys, occupying a site bounded by the present Douglas Hotel, by Shiprow up as far as the Maritime Museum and through to Adelphi. The facades of the existing buildings on Shiprow adjoining the Hotel will be retained. The present 'O Henry' facade at the end of Adelphi will disappear and there will be a gap in the new building so as to allow a view through to the harbour. The issue is whether such a large & high building should be allowed on this side of Shiprow; it will certainly overwhelm the adjacent Maritime Museum.
Two Aberdeens, Town & Gown: the trouble with Old Aberdeen is that much/most of the time it's like what archaeologists refer to as a DMV - a Deserted Medieval Village, or ghost town; students are largely absent five months of the year, at weekends and from about 4 pm onwards on weekdays. Most Aberdeen folk hardly ever go to Old Aberdeen - it's difficult to find one's way around, there's nowhere to park, etc. When Marischal College was a going concern, townspeople used to go there for public lectures, meetings etc; but nobody is going to trail out to Old Aberdeen for such, not on a cold winter's night. So there's much more of a separation between Town and Gown than there used to be, especially since Robert Gordon University has moved out to its new campus at Garthdee. Students of both universities lose out in terms of everyday interface with the town, which itself misses out on the throngs of young faces and university staff which used to impart a civilised academic ambience to the city centre. And lots of city centre businesses and amenities (not just pubs) miss out on student customers. It is striking that nearly everybody one sees in Broad St and the eastern end of Union St nowadays seems to be old &/or poor. But if you strip out every major activity - the universities, Aberdeen Journals (ex of Broad St), the head offices of the banks that used to be on/near Castlegate and all the quality shops and department stores - and if these aren't replaced by anything comparable, what else can you expect?
Our Sept 2009 Newsletter includes the following items:
- Coming Events
- Planning Applications
- The Green Townscape Heritage Initiative
- Retail Trends
- Round & About
- Old Aberdeen
- Black Gold, Silver City 1
See page ACS Newsletters 1.
Impact Of Edge-of-Town Superstores & Retail Complexes: "High Street food shops lose between 13% and 50% of their trade; the result is the closure of High Street shops, increased vacancy levels and a general decline in the quality of the environment of the town centre. Towns are hit especially hard where edge-of-town superstores & retail complexes are disproportionately large compared with the size of the town centre ... in these cases the superstore or retail complex itself becomes the new town centre, leaving the High Street to shrivel and decline". (From a Government Report in 1998.) True enough, except that recent experience is that edge-of-town superstores & retail complexes don't offer anything like the range of amenities of a good town centre or High Street, which they may kill off, but can never adequately replace.
To Ballater on Sunday 9th August for the Provincial Booksellers' (PBFA) Book Fair in the Victoria & Albert Hall, opposite the former railway station. Ballater is full of people for the start of their Victoria Week, and the whole town looks in v. good shape. The one-time Invercauld Arms Hotel, by the bridge over the Dee, is being converted into flats. The PBFA Book Fair comes to Aberdeen, at the Hilton Treetops Hotel, Springfield Rd, on the weekend of 26-27th Sept. Check their website at www.pbfa.org.
The Green Townscape Heritage Initiative: the Green THI is a major, conservation-led programme set up to tackle the problem of historic but run-down buildings such as the Tivoli Theatre (note new owner, Brian Hendry) in Guild St, Victoria Buildings in Bridge St, the former Palace Theatre in Bridge Place and Nos. 76-78 and 82-84 Shiprow; also entire streetscapes where long-standing economic and structural decline has undermined the character of historic and architecturally-significant neighbourhoods. The first stage of the Green THI will concentrate on the Green itself, a central but under-used area of Aberdeen which links the harbour and railway station to Union St and the traditional "retail heart" of the city. This will involve upgrading the streetscapes and improving the linkages between Union St and the new Union Square retail & leisure complex on the south side of Guild St. The entire Green THI project is expected to extend over the next five years. An important objective is to bring redundant and derelict historic buildings and vacant or under-used floorspace in such back into use, which may involve change-of-use and internal alterations, e.g., from warehouse &/or industrial to office, retail &/or residential accommodation - something for which the Civic Society has long campaigned. Grants of up to 60% of eligible costs will be made available to home-owners and business proprietors for purposes of repair and restoration of properties. ACC Leader John Stewart said: "The aim of the Green THI is to create a distinct city neighbourhood, characterised by cafes, restaurants, specialist shops, galleries and a revitalised Tivoli Theatre". Project Manager Graham Young said: "The Tivoli is a priority project for the Green THI ... there is funding available to undertake repairs to the external fabric of the Tivoli and to reinstate lost architectural details ... the vision is to reopen the Tivoli as a performance venue and theatre, but with other commercial uses within it, which may include a restaurant, dance studio or small museum". Of course, much of what is wrong with the Green relates back to bad planning decisions by ACC in the 1960s & '70s: the overhanging shoppies tacked on to the south side of Union Bridge, the wholly unnecessary destruction of Archibald Simpson's 1840s New Market and its replacement by the present and vastly inferior Aberdeen Markets building; and the perpetration of the gaping maw of the Trinity Centre car park. See our Sept. '09 Newsletter for more on this.
Old Aberdeen: the Old Town House has had the bell of its clock restored, following a campaign by the Old Aberdeen Heritage Society. The bell had stopped ringing in the 1950s, when its chiming mechanism broke down. The Old Town House is owned by Aberdeen City Council and is leased to Aberdeen University. The Category A-Listed building had lain unused for 15 years before its renovation in 2005, paid for by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The bell now rings every hour on the hour, except from 11pm to 8am. Incidental info: the No. 20 bus service is to be retained - see the Old Aberdeen Community Council website.
Castlegate: proposal for erection of a 40-metre high observation wheel resembling the London Eye. Although this might help bring 'life' back to the Castlegate, we feel it would overly dominate the square and the vista from Union Street.
Nos 6-14 Justice St: proposal for alterations to shopfront. This is the side elevation of the Citadel. Although the windows proposed are in keeping with those above, they don't sit comfortably in the former shopfronts and need rethinking.
Pocra Quay: application for environmental improvements on the area west of the Round House, essentially a hard-landscaping exercise in granite and Caithness slabs.
No. 142 Union St: Jamieson & Carry, alterations to shopfront and removal of the restaurant canopy.
Nos 1-3 Little Belmont St: replacement windows in UPVC(!) have been installed without permission in what is an undistinguished building, but in a Conservation Area and facing one of Aberdeen's finest Category A-Listed buildings, the Old Town School by John Smith, 1840, now the Hogshead pub. Our submission: "UPVC windows are not appropriate in a Conservation Area having one of Aberdeen's finest Category A Listed buildings ex adverso the property concerned."
No. 116 Crown St: application for change-of-use, offices to flats, OK.
No. 16 Crown Terrace: proposal for erection of a Prayer Room in the Mosque now occupying the former Diocesan Offices in the grounds of St John's Episcopal Church. We made no comment on the recent Application for a dome, but the building has been painted a fluorescent white which is quite inappropriate next to St John's Episcopal Church, which is a Listed building, by Thomas Mackenzie in 1849, additions by Arthur Clyne in 1898, in a strikingly Gothic style, dramatically pitched roofs etc, its near-island site reminiscent of an English parish church and churchyard. Our submission: "The proposed extension is, in form and materials, inappropriate on a site adjacent to a Listed building of such historic & architectural importance as St John's Episcopal Church and would be detrimental to both the church building and the amenity of the Conservation Area in which it is located".
Rosemount Place, former Rutherford Church: application for change-of-use and alterations to form 9 flats, with car parking for seven. Care seems to have been taken with the division of windows etc, but we are unhappy about the creation and form of a vehicular access on the Loanhead Terrace side of the building; this element of the design needs rethinking.
Craigieburn House, Springfield Rd: application for demolition and a new housing development of 66 flats and 77 parking spaces. It is proposed to replace the present traditional granite house of two-and-a-half storeys with a massive 'square', of three storeys, finished in dry dash, with granite from the existing house used to create bay windows. We favour refusal, on the grounds of the loss of the fine existing building and consequent detriment to the amenity of the area, also to public safety consequent on the inevitable increase in vehicular traffic.
Wynford Farm, Kingswells: proposal for conversion of the existing steading and extension to form a farm shop & cafe and playbarn. This is contrary to Green Belt Policies 28 of the Structure and Local Plans and prejudicial to public safety.
East Middlefield, Kingswells: proposal for a retail nursery with managers' dwellings; this too is contrary to Structure Plan Policies 27 & 28 and Local Plan Policies 28 & 29.
No. 54 Castle St: the extension behind the former Bank of Scotland, now the 'Mercatgate' Courthouse at the top of Marischal St, has been demolished and is to be replaced by a shapeless wing with mansard roof, to contain 9 bedrooms. Our submission: "The proposed extension perpetuates the former condition whereby the rear bay of a distinguished Listed building is covered by an inappropriate extension which adversely affects the amenity of the rear of the houses on Marischal St; the opportunity should be taken to ameliorate this situation".
No. 333 Union St: proposal for erection of a conservatory in the generous front courtyard of the 'Soul' cafe/bar/nightspot, the former Free West or Langstane Kirk, which is an important element in the Union St scene. Our submission: "The proposed conservatory, by its siting and design, would be extremely detrimental to the amenity of the Listed buildings which surround the site and of the Conservation Area".
No. 33 Fountainhall Rd: application for change-of-use, from retail to cafe. This relates to the single-storey shops in the block at the corner with Beaconsfield Place; a wide pavement here, should cause no problem.
South Holburn Church, No. 539a Holburn St: proposal for extension on the north side of this rather fine Listed exercise in the First Pointed style by A. Marshall Mackenzie. The proposed extension along the entire side elevation would be detrimental to the appearance of the church, and there is no indication of how the extension would affect the windows on that side.
Kingswell, East Middlefield: application for a new school, to replace the former Oakbank School, to comprise a new school building, tractor shed, three 7-bedroom residential units and a playing field. No objections from the planning angle.
Bucksburn, the Britannia Hotel: proposal for erection of a 92-bedroom extension, taking the form of a new 4-storey wing along the Inverurie Rd.
To Braemar Castle Sat 6th June '09 - the Civic Soc's Summer Outing. The Castle is a work in progress - restoration continuing. Much interesting Clan Farquharson memorabilia. Tea at Ballater Railway Station Restaurant - very nice, and Ballater itself as always a pleasure to visit.
Letter in P&J of 6th June '09: "Many people in the city would agree that Aberdeen has never quite recovered from the disastrous (1980s) decision to block off George St. Please at least leave us Union St as it was originally designed - a main thoroughfare leading directly to the Beach". How true.
To Tivoli Theatre, Guild St, evening of Friday 5th June '09 for their Supporters' Party. A very pleasant & evocative occasion, many familiar faces and quite a few ghosts.
Our programme of events for 2009-10 - see our page Coming Events. Note that we have changed our venue to the Royal Northern & University Club, No. 9 Albyn Place (just up from Holburn Junction), Aberdeen.
Our June 2009 Newsletter contains the following items:
- Planning Applications
- Retail Trends, High Street
- Commuter Problems, Guild St
- The Green & Castlegate
- Shiprow - City Wharf
- Surplus Capacity
- Vienna, Top City
- Pirie & Clyne, Architects
See page ACS Newsletters 1.
Round & About: a sunny Saturday afternoon in May. From West North St to the pointless expanse of the Mounthooly roundabout. The former John Knox church is the one building of distinction here. Photographs taken as recently as the 1960s show a busy, vibrant community of vernacular granite buildings, shoppies and people going about. Lots of people must still live around here, e.g., in the huge tower blocks of flats to the west, Greig & Hutcheon Courts, but there is almost no-one to be seen going about now. Just up Gallowgate, we encounter a crummy low-rise block of flats and vacated shops; then the huge tower blocks of Porthill & Seamount Courts, perched on top of the Port Hill, the highest eminence in Aberdeen; another undistinguished low-rise block and then the neo-classical Greyfriars House. Gallowgate was once comparable with the Royal Mile in Edinburgh; not now. Marischal College has been gutted and reduced to a shell, but we are glad to see this iconic building being brought back into use. Shiprow: the new City Wharf development seems even more immense than remembered, and blocks out the sun as well as the view of the harbour. Along Trinity Quay to Weigh Bridge Square and another view of the City Wharf development from Virginia St, along the foot of the Castle Hill, the high-water level of the old harbour before the reclamation of the Shorelands. To Theatre Lane, just this side of Marischal St; an old-fashioned, almost subterranean, Scottish court or close, opening on to Virginia St. Many impressive neo-classical buildings on Trinity Quay and Regent Quay. Up the Georgian Marischal St of 1767, vaulting Virginia St down below; the first street of the new post-medieval Aberdeen, linking the harbour and Castlegate. Not much is going on in the Castlegate. Its car park, in the adjacent Justice St, is being gutted prior to construction of a drug users' clinic and flats above, eliminating most of the parking spaces. Out King St, lined at this end by Asian shops, greengrocers etc, and restaurants. We are followed by two drunken young women, shouting and screaming. The contrast between hard-working Asian entrepreneurs and feckless, out-of-control locals is striking. Down Mealmarket St, past Farrier Lane, once a base for the smaller country bus operators. The vast art deco student flats complex, fronting on to West North St, is the one point of interest on this entire side of the desolate urban motorway of East/West North St, all the way from Mounthooly to the Castlehill roundabout. And the high- and low-rise blocks of flats up on Gallowgate look no better from down here on West North St than nearer to.
Inverness: the P&J reports that civic leaders want action in relation to the expanding number (20+) of empty shops in the city centre, which is awash with "For Sale" and "To Let" signs. In Union Street, empty, unlet premises almost outnumber those open for business. The Deputy Provost said: "I don't think the city centre has been helped by the (out-of-town) retail parks ... if we knew then what we do now, perhaps we wouldn't have allowed them". The problem this reveals is that, given the choice between High Street and retail park shopping, most people, especially car-borne out-of-towners, will opt for the latter. If a town doesn't offer a retail park shopping environment, people will take themselves off to a town that does. Few towns nowadays feature a thriving High Street shopping scene, apart from those able to pull in large numbers of well-heeled tourists and visitors, such as Edinburgh, York & Cambridge; whereupon the High Street becomes dominated by tea-shops and souvenir shops, of little use to local residents.
Carmelite St/Guild St: this T-junction is now completely dominated by the 8-storey Jury's Inn hotel fronting the Union Square retail & leisure complex. When walking from the Green to Guild St, the effect is as if Carmelite St were blocked off and overwhelmed by the glass-&-concrete monolith of the hotel building, pressing as it does right up against the narrow & congested Guild St and leaving no room for traffic noise and exhaust pollution to dissipate. This seems a clear case of over-development: the Jury's Inn building is too big for the site and too far forward, and pedestrians are hemmed in and exposed to the concentrated blast of traffic noise & pollution. The traffic situation in Guild St is bad now and will presumably be much worse once the retail & leisure complex opens for business in Sept/Oct '09. Furthermore: if ACC proceed with their plan to pedestrianise the mid-section of Union St, some 30 buses per hour will have to go down Market St, make the awkward right-hand turn on to Guild St, pass right in front of the Jury's Inn building, and then make another awkward right-hand turn up Bridge St. It doesn't bear thinking about!
Shiprow: the immensely tall City Wharf office/retail/casino/hotel development, occupying the roughly triangular site between Shiprow, Exchequer Row and Virginia St (formerly occupied by National Car Parks) reduces the historic Shiprow to a narrow alley, curving between the Lighthouse Cinema and the older buildings on its north side and something resembling the Great Wall of China on its south side, completely obscuring the view southwards over the harbour. Another clear case of over-development; the buildings are much too big for the site available. See photos on Flickr!
Surplus Capacity: there seems to be an emerging problem of over-investment and the creation of surplus capacity in both the retail and hotel sectors, often in fairly unpropitious locations. There are no fewer than four hotel developments under way in the Justice Mill Lane area alone; also the 8-storey Jury's Inn hotel fronting the Union Square complex and now a 107-bedroom hotel terminating the City Wharf development on Shiprow. And in a cheeky innovation in the planning process, it seems that the former Fraser's department store in Union St has been operating as a 56-bedroom hotel since April '09. Planning permission was sought - and granted - for a residential development of 32 flats; the proprietors seem to have changed their minds, and are applying for retrospective planning permission for the hotel development.
St Nicholas Kirk: application to replace the slated roof of the East Kirk with a lead roof, presumably so as to resist water penetration, this roof being of a very shallow pitch. As the roof lies behind a fairly high parapet, only workers in St Nicholas House are likely to notice a difference, so no problem.
Nos. 245-251 Union St: application for a replacement shopfront for Hugo Boss; will make the Boss frontage like that of the Cruise frontage next door. Both received Mentions in last year's Civic Society Awards, so no problem.
Nos. 52-54 Langstane Place: application for change-of-use, being an extension of the hotel being built by Bauhaus Hotels at the rear of La Tasca on Nos. 367-9 Union St. We were interested to see that the Justice Mill Lane developments are proceeding apace. The lift shafts for the hotel & office development on the Strawberry Bank site are standing like skyscrapers, whilst the old Galloway & Sykes Depository adjoining the Bon Accord Baths has all but disappeared.
No. 2 Albyn Place: application for a 3-storey extension facing Victoria St: this one has appeared several times, and still isn't right. Our submission: "Although the window proportions are good, the openings are out of scale with the Listed building they adjoin and those of the nearby houses in Victoria St. The top floor of the proposed extension is in form, roof profile and materials alien to the Listed building of which the extension forms part and is detrimental to the amenity of the Conservation Area".
Nazareth House, Claremont St: application for change-of-use to a residential complex of 47 flats & five town houses. This seems acceptable, on what is the last development site available in the West End.
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary: proposal for an Emergency Care Centre; a big, 9-storey addition to the Forresterhill complex; finishes are smooth render and metal cladding in silver, grey, white, copper & red. A fairly typical modern block, tucked away behind the new Children's Hospital and, like all the other new building here, completely unrelated to anything else on the site.
Cults Hotel: application for change-of-use, from the present chip shop to hotel extension. No objection, but the Hotel should be invited to review their car parking arrangements.
No. 168 Victoria Rd, formerly Torry Parish Church, currently Co Co's Playschool: proposal for a residential development of 25 bedsits and manager's flat. Our only reservation is the lack of car parking.
Oakbank School: proposal by Carlton Rock to create a business park with 3 new office blocks and gym, cafe, convenience store etc. This would involve demolishing all the existing buildings on the site and erection of a large quadrangle of buildings of up to 5 storeys high. The existing classroom blocks on Oakhill Rd would be replaced by five detached houses - the only acceptable element in the proposal! Vehicular access would be by Midstocket Rd. Our submission: "The proposal to erect a business park on this site would be contrary to all the precepts of good planning. This area of the city is almost wholly residential and educational - the site is surrounded on 3 sides by mostly detached houses and the 4th side is being developed for the Mile End School replacement building. The use of this site for the proposed development would be contrary to the Local Plan for this area, detrimental to the amenity of surrounding residential property due to the use and height of the proposed buildings and, by reason of increased traffic, prejudicial to road safety - particularly that of children attending Mile End School. This is a site for a residential development".
The Green & Castlegate: ACC proposes a further revamp of the Green; but the fact is that the Council did a good job of prettying up the area last time around and there is now nothing much wrong with the immediate physical environment. The elephant in the room, which it seems no-one will acknowledge or face up to, is that would-be visitors to the Green are discouraged by a long-standing problem of anti-social behaviour, a nettle overdue for grasping. Similar observations apply to the Castlegate, which will 'regenerate' only once people feel sufficiently confident to invest in &/or occupy residential and commercial property in the area. In this context, ACC's recent decision to grant planning permission for the proposed drug users' clinic in the adjacent Timmer Market car park - as against, say, at Forresterhill - seems extraordinarily perverse and destructive; it is quite simply the last thing the Castlegate needs.
John Street: proposed demolition of an outstanding tenement block - not Listed - passed on developer's appeal by the Scottish Govt. Reporter.
No. 5 King St: proposal for conversion of existing shop to an office (cop shop) for Grampian Police; to include retention of the shop frontage and restoration of several internal features - important in this B-Listed building, part of an A-Listed group.
Nos. 21-23 Market St: proposal for installation of two flagpoles. This is the rather fine building next to the old Bon Accord Hotel. The armorial devices look to be innocuous; OK.
No. 27 Caledonian Place: proposal for a rear extension, being a small infill block between the back wall of the house and the single-storey wash-house extension. No significant effect on this Listed terrace, of which the main feature is the street facade.
No. 116 Rosemount Place: proposal for internal alterations, including a mezzanine floor, to form a dental surgery; won't affect the appearance of the rather podgy First Pointed (Gothic) style of the former Rutherford Church Hall.
No. 419 Great Western Road: proposal for rear extension to create new bedrooms and a conservatory; fairly large, but in line with extensions to neighbouring houses.
Peterculter: proposal to demolish the large bungalow 'Caldonia', of inferior construction, occupying a 4-acre site entered from a side road off Malcolm Rd, and to construct nine houses, five to be "affordable", the other four presumably unaffordable.
Land To South-West Of Leggart Terrace & Avenue: proposal for a residential development of some 41 houses and bungalows, on the land between the rear of Leggart Avenue and the Aberdeenshire Boundary. This is a most important buffer zone at the edge of the city and has for many years been a precious part of Green Belt land. Our submission: "Housing development in this area is contrary to the precepts of good planning at the edge of an urban area and will be detrimental to the amenity of the approach road to Aberdeen and (also) that of neighbouring proprietors".
Nos. 34/36 Cornhill Rd: proposal for new HQ for CLAN; this is a new group of buildings of 1, 2 & 3 storeys of traditional massing, materials and style next to and south-eastwards of Roxburghe House. We now fear for the existing CLAN building, the former Rosemount Church (by William Smith, 1875) which stands in the way of ACC's proposed reconstruction of Berryden Junction, attendant on their crazy scheme for the pedestrianisation of Union Street.
West Lodge, Woodend Hospital: proposal for a development of nine flats for Albyn Properties Ltd. This is a biggish block along the former main avenue to the hospital, behind the West Lodge; six storeys in height, finished in granite and cement render, with glazing panels filled with powder-coated aluminium. We had concerns about the visual impact, but the 6-storey portion is at the foot of the Denburn Valley, so that only three storeys are on view above the level of the Viaduct. Tree planting for the west side of the site.
Lang Stracht: proposal for a garden centre development for Dobbies Garden Centre plc/James Cocker & Sons. This is a site comprising two fields beyond the existing Cocker establishment. There is pressure on existing garden centres to move out and allow their establishments to be converted. We can't really say much if this accords with the Local Plan.
East Middlefield, Kingswells: proposal for a new school, to replace Oakbank School, on the south side of the Old Skene Road just before the Four Mile House group, to comprise three small residential units, a school block and tractor shed. No objection provided it conforms with the Local Plan.
Peterculter: Marks & Spencer is to open a Simply Food store adjacent to the BP petrol station, which is to be rebuilt. The M&S Peterculter store will doubtless be welcomed by people resident on or near the North Deeside Road; but it is part of a continuing shift of retail activity out of Aberdeen city centre, of which M&S has traditionally been a main attraction. Car-owners, even those resident within city limits, may well find it more convenient to buy their M&S goodies at Peterculter or Westhill than to fight their way into the city centre and pay to park in a multi-storey.
Elgin High Street: The P&J of 2nd March 2009 reports concern amongst the Moray business community regarding the future of Elgin High St unless local & national planners slow the creation of out-of-town retail parks. "They say they want to see town centres remain vibrant, but when you see the decisions that are made, you have to question whether that is a genuine desire ... there seems to be no presumption in the planning system in favour of town centres ... every time something comes up out-of-town, even if it is contrary to the Local Plan, it seems able to get permission to go ahead ... there's no point in the planners paying lip service to town centres if they continue to make decisions that work against that".
And further to the above, from the P&J Letters Page of 17th March 2009: "We read that planning officials at Moray Council are recommending approval of yet another giant out-of-town retail park, at Linkwood ... since 2007, the slow death of Elgin town centre has accelerated ... if you create more retail space in a town where demand for premises is in decline, then existing High Street shops must close ... go to Inverness and observe "Tesco-opoly" and the destruction of a once-thriving town centre". (In the event, Elgin Town Council voted against the proposed retail park at Linkwood.)
Our March 2009 Newsletter includes the following items:
- Retail Trends: The High Street Vs The Mall
- The Trains We Love, by Gordon Casely
- The Other Leopard: Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa.
- See our page ACS Newsletters 1.
Aberdeen Office Market Activity: Knight Frank's latest report says that in 2008 Aberdeen recorded the strongest growth in office rents of any major regional centre, and for the second year running. Office take-up totalled 550,000 square feet, up 25% on the 2007 level. These trends are set to continue through 2009, although landlords in out-of-town locations may require to offer more generous incentives to prospective tenants. Another report, by CB Richard Ellis (Scotland) says Aberdeen had a record take-up of office space in 2008, whereas Glasgow & Edinburgh suffered a slowdown. In Aberdeen, office rental values increased by £6 per sq ft to £30 per sq ft by the end of 2008, whereas in Glasgow there was only a small increase and in Edinburgh rents stabilised at £28.50 per sq ft.
The City And The Shire: new residential developments are spreading like a rash along the Westhill-Elrick road and also from Inverurie along the Oldmeldrum road, both reflecting and contributing to the continued exodus of families from the City to the Shire.
Aberdeen Workforce Third-Best Qualified in Britain: the latest report from Centre for Cities remarks that Aberdeen is the 3rd-best city in Britain in terms of the proportion of its working-age population - 40% - possessed of degree-level qualifications; only Edinburgh and Cambridge do better, at 44%. See our page Aberdeen - An Urban Ideopolis.
Carbuncle Awards 2009: the coveted Plook Award, for the most gratuitously ugly town in Scotland, went to Grangemouth. The Award serves to highlight the avoidable deficiencies of the places where a great many of we Scots actually live, as against the usual picture-postcard depictions of vast scenic expanses where almost nobody lives. And this year's award for the most ill-considered new development in Scotland went to "Trumpton" at Balmedie.
Castlegate: the proposed treatment clinic for drug addicts, to be built on the adjacent Timmer Market car park, continues to excite debate. The clinic would no doubt be A Good Thing, but it doesn't have to be located in (or adjacent to) the Castlegate, which is struggling as it is. The Castlegate needs its car park, which brings in much-needed visitors and customers. We suggest the clinic should be incorporated into the ARI complex at Forresterhill, the more so given that drug addicts tend to be subject to a range of health problems, physical and mental.
Marischal College: proposal to increase the height of the proposed car park from 2-storey & basement to 3-storey, located in the area of the former ground-level car park. It would not be overly obtrusive from the street, but it will obscure the lower part of the Mitchell Hall.
No. 52 The Green: a proposal by the proprietors, Cafe 52, for a single-storey glazed restaurant pavilion on the north side of the Green; no objection. (ACC approved.)
No. 17h Rosemount Viaduct: application for new front windows in timber, sash & case, in the style of the originals on this outstanding B-Listed tenement block, opposite the Central Library.
Nos. 445-453 Union St/No 16 Justice Mill Lane: details for permission for a 10-storey replacement for Bell's Hotel, of 217 bedrooms & car parking. This is a massive development, with granite & aluminium/glass finishes. The 10-storey section will not be visible from Union St, but will be partly on view from Alford Place & Rose St and will, of course, be on full view from Justice Mill Lane.
Rubislaw Terrace Gardens: a proposal by Cafe 52 to remove the fountain and pool (in what are probably the best-used gardens in Aberdeen) and erect a "cafe-kiosk", to take the form of a flat-roofed shed with aluminium shutters and timber slats, just across Albyn Place from Harlaw Academy (by Archibald Simpson, 1839). Our submission to ACC: "The proposal is inappropriate to this area of the city and totally alien in style, scale and materials to the background of distinguished Listed terraced houses and the West End Conservation Area. In addition, the creation of such an enterprise will exacerbate the dumping of litter, cans etc, which is already a problem here". (ACC turned down.)
No. 20 Queen's Rd: proposal to demolish existing 2-storey extension to rear and erect a new 3-storey extension; yet another case of a back garden being built over in Queen's Road.
Nos. 59-63 Queen's Rd: Simpson's Hotel: a retrospective application re external benches, tables and planters; refused by ACC.
No. 27 Rubislaw Den North, Gordon House: application for change-of-use, from former nursing home to offices. This huge house was built in the 1880s for the granite merchant William Keith, possibly as much as an advertisement for his business as a home. The house (architect unknown) is in the familiar Scottish Baronial/Victorian Gothic style and incorporates a great many turrets, bays and pointed upper windows. William Keith shared his surname with the 15th Century Great Marischal of Scotland and had his namesake's motto - "Thay haif said, Quhat say thay, Lat thame say" - carved over the front door. In 1935 the house was bought by Lord & Lady Aberdeen and was renamed Gordon House. It has since been used as an hotel, an army billet, a student hall of residence and, most recently, as a nursing home.
Craigton Rd, Cliff House: proposal for two sustainable 5-bedroomed houses; big and showy, in the grounds of this former Church of Scotland Home.
No. 4 Bayview Rd: application for replacement windows (in UPVC!) and driveway. UPVC is considered an inappropriate material for the windows of this end-of-terrace house, of distinguished design, on a prominent site in an important Conservation Area.
Forresterhill Rd: the proposed energy centre. This is a new boiler house complex, prominently sited at the north-west corner of the Forresterhill Rd/Westburn Rd junction. The design is interesting, but we question the use of timber panels.
Land North of Airyhall House: application for a 60-bed Nursing Home and 8 constant-care flats for the Nazareth Care Home Trustees. This is on Craigton Rd opposite the last house and the first part of RGC's playfield. No objection, as long as it accords with the Local Plan.
Mugiemoss Rd: proposal for erection of 112 flats and community facilities, of banal design; should not be considered until the traffic situation at the junction of Mugiemoss Rd and Great Northern Rd has been resolved.
Auchmill Reservoir: the former reservoir, circular, stone-built, has been adapted to form a new 4-bedroomed house.
North Esplanade West: application for a v. large office development for the Wood group, to stand on the Drive at Old Ford Road; 7-8 storeys, finishes being aluminium panels, cement render, black granite panels. Seems acceptable in context of other developments on North Esplanade.
Former BP Complex, Burnside Rd, Dyce: application for a residential development of 119 units - 71 houses & 48 flats; seems OK.
Retail Trends: The Mall Vs The High Street. The credit crunch has decisively ended the long consumer spending boom of 1995-2007. Just as a rising tide floats many boats, so an outgoing or ebb tide will leave many boats high and dry. Businesses, cities and towns which failed to thrive during the long boom are hardly likely to succeed during the recession. Long-established retailers are now tumbling like ninepins; MFI, Woolworths, Zavvi (formerly Virgin Megastore), and a clutch of shoe shops - Freeman, Hardy & Willis, Stead & Simpson, Dolcis and Saxone. The superstores, in particular Tesco and Asda, are taking over what used to be the exclusive territories of specialist retailers - e.g., clothes, footwear, books, recorded music & DVDs, electricals, computers, mobile phones, cameras, financial services, opticians and pharmaceuticals. There is also competition from online retailers like Amazon.
Both traditional High Streets and the newer enclosed malls are being hit by the disappearance of specialist retailers; but arguably the malls will be hit harder. Malls, unlike High Streets, have no resident population; people have to make a conscious choice to go to the mall. And shopping is the sole point and function of malls; there is no other reason for being there. High Streets accommodate a more diversified range of enterprises and activities; pubs & bars, fish & chip shops, takeaways, churches, cinemas, betting shops, hairdressers, charity and second-hand shops, dentists, garages and other business and industrial premises. There are more reasons to go down the High Street than to the mall. The High Street is thus in a better position than most malls to survive the erosion of the specialist retail chain. Malls are business enterprises which have to earn a profit for their proprietors in a way that High Streets don't. The newer malls were built at the peak of the boom when land prices and construction costs were at their maximum, and were often financed by bank lending, i.e., are highly leveraged or indebted. This may not matter as long as the mall is profitable and can cover the interest owed on borrowed capital. But problems arise when retail tenants drop out and cannot be replaced, or if a new mall never fills to capacity in the first place. No retailer wants to operate next to vacant premises and customers don't like half-empty malls. Hence the American phenomenon of "dead malls" and "ghost malls". A new mall is a major investment, with high ongoing maintenance costs, and has to be able to charge its full complement of retail tenants appropriate levels of rent; unlike the High Street, premises cannot simply cascade down to low-rent tenants like charity shops and pound or 99p shops. There is thus a certain break-even level of occupancy for a mall, a tipping point, below which the mall simply goes bust and shuts down in a way that High Streets just don't.
Our December 2008 Newsletter contains articles on:
- Aberdeen City Finances
- The Banking Crisis, Impact On High Street
- Wellington Suspension Bridge Re-Opening
- Union Street & Vicinity
- Broad Street
- Civic Society Awards 2008
- Union Terrace Gardens
- The Granite Mile, History of Union Street.
- The Gallowgate.
See page ACS Newsletters 1.
Mon 24th Nov. 2008: the Green empty of people at 12.30 pm. Carmelite St - work continuing on tall old buildings; slatted wood finish on top storeys? Union Square centrepiece building, 8-storey hotel - absolutely massive, right up against narrow & congested Guild St. Criterion Bar now open for business. The peaceful Victorian ambience of Stirling St, Trinity St & Exchange St is a welcome relief after the noise, dust & chaos of Guild St.
Many interesting photos on the website Fit Like Aiberdeen.
Union St Pedestrianisation: it was asserted by an SNP councillor on Frank Gilfeather's prog on Northsound Radio, 23/11/08, that pedestrianisation of our main thoroughfare is "dead" because there is no alternative cross-city route available to take traffic displaced from Union St; something most of us worked out years ago, when this bizarre scheme was first proposed. But how are retailers and other prospective tenants supposed to decide whether to locate and invest in Union St premises whilst the whole area remains subject to this degree of uncertainty, otherwise known as Planning Blight?
The Aberdeenshire Canal: a beautifully produced & illustrated book, large-format, 81 pages, published by Aberdeen Town & County History Society. Check their website for details.
Union Terrace Gardens: Diane Morgan writes: "Alas, Sir Ian Wood's patently generous and well-intentioned benefaction would, at a stroke, wipe out a unique part of the city's heritage. Union Terrace Gardens lies at the medieval level of the city and the great slope of its west side is all that remains of the once-formidable Denburn Ravine, whose impassability prevented, for centuries, the westward expansion of the overcrowded town. The bridging of the Ravine was eventually achieved by the construction from 1801 of the lower half of Union Street, leading up to Union Bridge itself. This, the magnificent 'Grand Arch' of 1807, was once the toast of Scotland. It tamed the Ravine and made accessible the whole area from what is now Diamond Street to Holburn Junction and the city's still spectacular West End. The east side of the Denburn Ravine was levelled out by the railway and the Denburn Road. Union Bridge is a much impaired travesty of its former self - why did we allow those 1960s shoppies on its south side? The north side of Union Bridge and the Gardens are all that remain of a pivotal moment of our past. There are several interesting options available for improvement of the Gardens. It would be a shame to eliminate them in favour of the proposed flat expanse.
The Granite Mile: The History of Aberdeen's Union Street: a new book by Diane Morgan, who describes Aberdeen's transformation from a cramped medieval town to an elegant Georgian city, made possible by the construction of the viaduct that is Union Street, its late-19th and early-20th Century zenith and its more recent decline. Spectacular illustrations, large-format hardback @ £16.99.
To the Town House, Castle St, for the Civic Soc's Awards Ceremony on the evening of Wed 22nd Oct 2008. (See our page Annual Awards & Commendations for details.) The nearest available car park was that at Greyfriars House, in the extraordinarily bleak and charmless environs of the Gallowgate. The whole stretch, from Gallowgate via Broad St to the Town House, was almost completely deserted - to an intimidating degree - at 7.30 pm and no less so on our return at 9.30 pm. The Marischal College building is being redeveloped. The former Students' Union at the corner of Upperkirkgate-Gallowgate used to be a centre of activity, but is long closed, as is the Marischal Bar in Gallowgate. Bisset's bookshop, as was, in Upperkirkgate is now a branch of Starbuck's. The fact is that there is almost no resident population in Broad St, Queen St and Upperkirkgate. There are not even any street-level shops open for business in Broad St and Gallowgate; not even a chipper or takeaway. The shops have presumably all disappeared into the subterranean malls. We are reminded of those old sci-fi movies featuring nuclear devices that left buildings intact but eliminated people; another triumph for post-war town planning. The only hope for the future is that the projected demolition of St Nicholas House will allow the re-integration of Broad St with the retail heart of the city - that (west) side of Broad St used to be lined with shops and businesses, well into the 1960s.
Bank of Scotland: the projected takeover of the Edinburgh-based Halifax/Bank of Scotland (HBoS) by Lloyds-TSB, creating a new London-based organisation to be known as Lloyds Banking Group, is a major blow to the credibility of Edinburgh as a world-class financial centre, since what really matters is where the company headquarters is located, where the top-level decisions are taken and where the decision-takers live. Similarly, the part-nationalisation of RBS will substantially transfer control to HMG in London. At local level, the merger of Lloyds-TSB and HBoS will inevitably lead to the closure of competing High Street premises, as when a Lloyds-TSB branch is located near a HBoS branch. Whatever we might say about banks, they did create and still occupy and maintain many impressive town-centre buildings. Mergers, take-overs & amalgamations in the financial services sector invariably result in a withdrawal from many High Street premises. Whether the few growth sectors in our town centres - pubs/bars, coffee houses and mobile phone shops - can take up the slack and occupy all these redundant bank premises remains to be seen. The older bank premises tend to feature small, high windows rather than the large display windows required by retail tenants.
Duthie Park: its 125th anniversary celebration on Sunday 14th Sept, 2008. A very pleasant and civilised event which attracted large numbers of people of all ages, indicating that there is still such a thing as community spirit in these parts.
The Role Of Cities: see our page Comment & Opinion 2.
No. 52 Victoria St: application for change-of-use from residential to professional &/or financial purposes; demolition of garage block and erection of a single-storey extension with a car park in the rear garden area, for Kirkwood Fyfe. The cottage side of Victoria St, between Waverley Place and Carden Place, comprises 20 units - terraced, detached & semi-detached. Of these, only 3 are in commercial use - Nos. 18, 42 & 44. This proposal would increase the use of the back lane for commercial traffic and would increase the non-residential use of this Listed street in a Conservation Area.
Queen's Rd & Westburn Drive: application for 12 metre-high monopoles with antennae for Vodaphone. Should these not be placed on top of buildings?
No. 15 Carnegie Crescent: application for demolition of the present large bungalow and erection of four semi-detached houses of one storey & attic in two blocks.
Union Terrace Gardens; proposed Performing Arts Centre: where is the required adjacent car parking and delivery access? Will patrons want to descend into the pit of UTG after dark? Will the drunken, anti-social element currently in occupation of the relevant area, immediately below Union Terrace, simply remove themselves? Experience of other locales, e.g. Castlegate and the Green, suggests that they won't.
Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR): the principal argument presented in support of this project continues to be that it will (somehow) relieve traffic congestion in Aberdeen City. But the main sources of traffic congestion in Aberdeen are the Brig o' Dee, the Bridge of Don and the Haudagain roundabout. Fixing these should take precedence over the AWPR.
Union Street & Vicinity: a bright, sunny Thursday in mid-September. From Denburn under Rosemount Viaduct and through Union Terrace Gardens, beautifully kept-up as always by ACC. A few people are relaxing & enjoying the sun at the Viaduct end. But further on, under the arches supporting Union Terrace, the usual suspects are swigging beer from cans in blatant defiance of ACC's by-law prohibiting consumption of alcohol in public places. To the Tolbooth for its exhibition on the Historical Castlegate. Then down Shiprow. Demolition in progress of the hideous What Everyone Wants building and NCP car park; good riddance. The Harbour is crammed full with oil-related shipping. More construction activity in progress on the Guild St/South Market St site for Hammerson re Union Square. The Criterion Bar at the corner of Guild St/Stirling St, closed for months past, is now being refurbished. Continuing development work on the tall buildings off Carmelite St. The Green is lined with shops, bars & cafes but is almost empty of people, this at 3 pm on a weekday afternoon. A long trudge up the Back Wynd stairs; two beggars have taken up occupation of the half-way landing. To Waterstone's bookshop, where purchased 'Tudor Johnny' by David Miller. Up Belmont St, on to the Viaduct and HMT and down via Donald's Way to Denburn. A beggar/street-dweller is sitting in an alcove, accompanied by his pit-bull dog. Three separate encounters with street-drinkers, beggars &/or street-dwellers in the space of an hour-and-a-half. Nothing untoward occurred but there is inevitably a degree of (not unreasonable) apprehension. A steep, narrow wynd like Donald's Way can be a convenient pedestrian shortcut or it can provide accommodation for beggars and their dogs. It can't do both. Many people would be put off making return visits to these and other city centre locations, even on, to repeat, a bright, sunny, weekday afternoon.
Union Terrace Gardens: Diane Morgan writes: "I am a bit puzzled by the Peacock Visual Arts proposed Centre for the Contemporary Arts. It will cost £13 million, seemed to come from nowhere, and the artist's impression indicates that it will be housed in a large and unprepossessing-looking building in the heart of Union Terrace Gardens; a great, green open space in the centre of Aberdeen and a unique survivor of the original, medieval level of the town. It should be a focal point for the city, filled with glorious horticulture and, at the same time, a halt for a reinstated suburban railway line between Culter and Dyce, taking people into the city centre. The UTG Halt could have a row of small shops and cafes and the Victorian toilets, scandalously run down, could be reinstated. The unsocial element that currently hangs around the Gardens is a problem that good policing and social work backup would cure. I can understand why the supporters of the Contemporary Arts scheme are naturally determined to hang on to the £4.3 million funding on offer from the Scottish Arts Council. But surely this offer is not conditional on the Gardens being the venue? A more acceptable site would be the former Greyfriars Church, currently on sale at £1.25 million. It would make a stunning centre, is conveniently close to Marischal College for city arts agencies and would add a new dimension to the Civic Square projected for Broad Street".
Diane Morgan's full submission to ACC on the subject of Union Terrace Gardens can be read on our page ACS Newsletters 2.
Drunken Yobbery: the P&J of 6th Sept 2008 reports an impending nine-week "crackdown" by Grampian Police on drunken, anti-social behaviour in Aberdeen city centre ... a "no-go area for most decent people ... the law-abiding majority are being forced out of the pubs, clubs and restaurants by the unpleasant atmosphere which pervades at weekends". We are reminded of the famous line from the movie Batman (1989): "Decent people shouldn't live here ... they'd be happier somewhere else". What puts most of us off going into the city centre at night is not so much the fairly low statistical probability of being shot or stabbed, more the near-certainty of experiencing abusive, threatening &/or disgusting behaviour; something which is unlikely to change for the better as long as discounted alcohol outlets remain the predominant business activity in Union Street and its environs.
The Wellington Suspension Bridge, Category A Listed, 1829, was re-opened by Lord Provost Peter Stephen on 3rd Sept 2008 following extensive refurbishments. The Bridge linked the communities of Ferryhill and Torry and replaced the hazardous Craiglug Ferry. It was built with funds provided by the Heritors of the Church of Nigg to allow residents of Ferryhill to attend services at Nigg Kirk - Perpendicular Gothic, by John Smith, 1828, itself now closed. The Wellington Bridge (named after the Duke, then Prime Minister) is one of the first things people see when they come into Aberdeen by train and is a structure of considerable elegance which enhances its surrounding environment, unlike so many more recent structures.
Then And Now: interesting photographs in the Evening Express of 4th Sept 2008, of Broad Street in 1910 and as it is now. The 1910 photo shows riotous scenes following Prime Minister H H ("Squiffy") Asquith's rectorial address to the University Union. At that time, and well into the 1960s, the west side of Broad Street (opposite Marischal College) consisted of an impressive array of granite buildings, all of them with shops and other commercial premises at street level and residential accommodation above. The streetscape was full of people and commercially vibrant. By contrast, the 2008 photograph, taken on a bright, sunny day, shows the near-deserted Broad Street with which we are nowadays all too familiar, its west side dominated by the glass and concrete slabs of St Nicholas House; no shops, no resident population, no University students or staff; nothing and nobody, in fact.
Aberdeen City Finances: a detailed analysis by David Maddox in The Scotsman of 30th August 2008. The Accounts Commission reported that ACC's spending has exceeded its income by £10 million p.a. for five years past. The City's financial problems began in the mid-1990s when Scottish councils changed from the old two-tier system of burgh and regional councils to the present 32 unitary authorities. The effect in the North-East was that the efficient and well-run Grampian Regional Council was replaced by three unitary councils, being Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray. Grampian's councillors decided to slice up the Region's funding thus: 40% went to Aberdeen City, 40% to Aberdeenshire and 20% to Moray, roughly in line with populations. Many believe that Aberdeen City should have received nearer 50% of the Region's funding, given that Aberdeen is the hub for the North-East and has to finance regional facilities like AECC, used by people from all over. A second issue is the COSLA formula for the allocation of central government funding, based on assessments of poverty and deprivation. It allocates Aberdeen £1,777 per person p.a., compared with a Scottish average of £2,108 and Glasgow at £2,585. Thirdly, the city's population peaked out at 219,000 in 1996, and has fallen by about 10% since. Thus a given infrastructure has to be financed by a shrinking population. The upshot is that Aberdeen City has Scotland's highest Council Tax, at £1,195.83 for a Band D property, but has nonetheless overspent its £417 million budget by £10 million p.a. over the past five years, and now has to make spending cuts amounting to £50 million.
Our Sept 2008 Newsletter contains items on:
- Recent Planning Applications
- Urban Regeneration, Reflections on Glasgow East
- Most Liveable Cities
- Boomtown Aberdeen
- Global Trends, Oil & Foodstuff Prices
- Aberdeen's Links With Sweden.
See our page ACS Newsletters 1.
Decline Of The High Street: traditional High St shops now account for less than 40% of the 1.2 billion square feet of retail space in the UK, as a growing share of retail spending is hoovered up by shopping centres. Superstores have encroached on the terrain of specialist retailers, with footwear chains, such as Dolcis and Stead & Simpson among 2008's biggest casualties. Set against this is the expansion of coffee and sandwich chains such as Cafe Nero, Costa Coffee, Pret a Manger and Subway; also the spread of charity shops. But there is also a trend for shops to become simply unlettable. High Streets can be mean streets and not every retail brand survives. The long-established C&A closed all 113 of its UK stores in 2000, having lost £250 million over the previous five years. Other retail departures are Littlewoods, Fine Fare, Wm Low, Safeway, Virgin Megastores, Our Price and the shoe chain Freeman Hardy & Willis, which once had a foothold in nearly every town in Britain.
Urban Regeneration: extensive comment on think-tank Policy Exchange's recent report, "Cities Unlimited", to the effect that the policy of urban regeneration has failed and that the populations of Liverpool, Hull, Sunderland etc should up sticks and seek better opportunities in the south-east of England. In the Sunday Times of 17th August 2008, Simon Jenkins writes: "The policy has imprisoned millions in characterless housing estates, many far from city centres, in which there are no jobs other than with the Council. No amount of romanticism, or the pockets of liveliness in conserved areas of Newcastle, Liverpool and Leeds, can conceal this fact. Provincial urban renewal has been the greatest single failure of domestic policy in the last half-century, comparing starkly with successful regeneration in continental Europe and America. Since the onset of deindustrialisation in the 1980s, Britain's cities have lagged behind those of France, Germany & Italy in prosperity, appearance, self-confidence and public order".
There is, of course, nothing like a by-election, such as that in Glasgow East, for focussing attention on otherwise neglected places. Commentators drew parallels between Glasgow East and the grimmer provinces of the former USSR - vile public-sector housing estates, the striking lack of private-sector activity, enterprise, investment or job-creation, the prevalence of depression, despair and self-destructive lifestyles; and male life expectancies on a par with the poorest and most war-torn countries of Africa. Such is the outcome of decades of one-party rule. Had there been serious competition for votes - as now - something might have been done about it all. Policy-wise, there is a need to re-establish the rule of law, deal with organised crime and anti-social or uncivil behaviour and restore discipline in schools, just for starters.
We must, of course, be mindful of cause and effect. Much of the urban population of Scotland descended from starving, dirt-poor Highland and Irish economic migrants, inhabited the worst, most overcrowded housing in Europe and worked in brutalising, killer industries like coal, steel, ship-building, heavy engineering & textiles with high probabilities of serious or fatal injury or disease. All this was true well into the 1970s. The more recent experience has been of the collapse of these same industries as a result of foreign competition and the withdrawal of State subsidies; hence no jobs and low pay and/or poor conditions in such jobs as remained. Inner-city tenement slum housing was replaced by huge mono-cultural white working-class ghettoes like Easterhouse and Drumchapel, featuring zero amenities, the destruction of established communities and networks and, crucially, no resident middle class of entrepreneurs, managers and professionals. Until quite recently, the best advice one could give any young person was simply to leave, and huge numbers did. The defining demographic characteristic of Scotland, as of southern Italy, is that of emigration.
However, one senses a mood of optimism now, a sense that, all things considered, one may be as well off in Scotland as anywhere else. We've got the oil, the wide-open spaces and the sea-coast. There are good prospects for an expansion of agriculture, given rising world food prices and a milder climate than in the past. Lack of rain is crippling farming - and much else - in many places, but not Scotland. Onward and upward!
Most Liveable Cities: Monocle magazine has compiled its list of the world's 25 most "liveable" cities, being: Copenhagen, Munich, Tokyo, Zurich, Helsinki, Vienna, Stockholm, Vancouver, Melbourne, Paris, Sydney, Honolulu, Madrid, Berlin, Barcelona, Montreal, Fukuoka, Amsterdam, Minneapolis, Kyoto, Hamburg, Singapore, Geneva, Lisbon and Portland. The notion of "liveability" mixes hard data on crime rates, education and healthcare with more subjective quality-of-life considerations. Munich came out top in 2007, and 2nd this year, for its exceptional airport, good urban transport, low crime, attractive neighbourhoods and heart-of-Europe location. City dwellers in general want: a mix of shops and services within walking distance; a good transport interchange; green space, parks & expanses of water; a strong economic base and locally-owned and controlled and independent businesses as a key feature of the community; a sense of safety and security; and good restaurants, coffee shops and street markets. One is bound to feel that Aberdeen comes out quite well on most of these criteria.
Boomtown Aberdeen: an interesting article in the Independent of 12th August 2008 quotes Mr Ryan Forbes, a local estate agent: "We have just sold one city centre apartment for 20% above the asking price ... Aberdeen house prices soared 36% last year alone ... they have risen 130% in the past five years. While many say this is due to the high quality of life afforded those who live here - the long sandy beaches, stunning scenery and excellent schools - the real reason remains the steady flow of oil & gas from the platforms over the horizon. We are definitely bucking the national trend ... the global oil market is quite a significant part of this, but we are well placed with the two universities as well, so investors are still piling in to the buy-to-let sector". And Ms Rita Stephen of Aberdeen City & Shire Economic Forum says that the city and its hinterland are far from being a one-trick pony, and haven't been since the days of Robert the Bruce. "Historically, Aberdeen has always had a buoyant economy. In the 16th Century we had two universities here, as many as in the whole of England. Aberdeen's was and still is a knowledge-based economy". She believes it is not just a question of having oil & gas in the ground; it has been the city's success in developing training and support services to the rest of the world's energy industry that will see Aberdeen flourish well into the next half of the century. For this reason, pressure is mounting to reinstate the daily direct flight to Houston, the world's oil capital. Aberdeen's airport at Dyce remains BAA's most profitable possession and its heliport is the busiest in the world. Elsewhere, the economist Tony Mackay reports that unemployment in Aberdeenshire is just 0.7% of the available labour force, the lowest of all the 32 local authorities in Scotland. In Aberdeen City, unemployment is 1.2%, comparing with the average for Scotland of 2.3%. And the rising population of the North-East - up by more than 5,000 this year - is an indicator of confidence. The real economic powerhouse remains the oil & gas sector. Output may be slowing, but the huge prices now obtainable for oil & gas have revived interest in the North Sea fields.
Then And Now: just been looking at photos (Evening Express, 31/7/08) of the junction of Chapel St and Huntly St as it was in 1958 and as it is now. Chapel St in 1958 was comprised of substantial granite tenements in the local vernacular style, gable ends on the top (4th) storey, some other nice ornamental touches and a corner shoppie. The present-day Chapel St is dominated by the god-awful concrete eggbox of the multi-storey car park. It is easy to forget just how much of the one-time granite architectural heritage of Aberdeen has been similarly eroded. Is this progress?
Going To Seed: the Scotsman of 15 July 2008 reports that ACC is to make further cutbacks in its grass-cutting budget, sparking claims that huge stretches of council-owned land will be left unkempt and untidy. A further 20 sites are to be added to the list of some 50 green spaces presently left unmown. Gordon Graham, councillor for Northfield, said: "When you see the areas left uncut, it's bringing the whole city down ... people are concerned about broken bottles, syringes and dog mess ... kids can't even get through to the play park ... it's a health & safety issue". And Councillor Willie Young pointed out that the 'broken windows theory' shows that in communities where minor problems and offences such as graffiti and litter are left unattended to, the willingness of local residents to enforce social order is undermined, leading on to higher levels of crime and anti-social behaviour.
The Civic Society's programme for the 2008-9 session can be seen on our page 'Coming Events'.
Former Esslemont & Macintosh Buildings: proposal for new extensions and change-of-use to an hotel. The present bridge across St Katherine's Wynd is to be replaced by a device higher & deeper, from 1st floor to top floor, providing, as well as a link, additional bedrooms. We believe that this device - although the plain glass link is acceptable - is over-large and detrimental to the amenity of the Listed Buildings and the Union St Conservation Area. Similarly, the extension to Broad St, replacing that existing, takes up more space and is clumsy and unsympathetic to the existing buildings and the street scene.
Marischal College: proposal for conversion to accommodate relocation of ACC's offices from St Nicholas House. We are pleased that the fast-decaying Marischal College building is being taken over by ACC and will be appropriately preserved. The proposed conversion will create a six-level development of open-plan offices on the north, west & south sides of the Quadrangle. The creation of an entrance vestibule by glazing in the main archway to Broad St will obscure the view of, and hinder access to, the Mitchell Hall and the Quadrangle. We note the adjoining Greyfriars Church has been put up for sale by the Church of Scotland; should ACC buy/lease it too?
Marischal College, also the former York St Nursery School, Footdee: proposals to clean stonework. No doubt Historic Scotland will require the approved methods of stone-cleaning to be employed.
Nos. 11-12 Russell Rd, nr Poynernook Rd: application for demolition of a Listed Building, being a small fish-smoking house, within the development site. Could the artefact be preserved on another site?
Old Mill Rd, Ferryhill: proposal for demolition of office/store and erection of 16 flats. This is a redevelopment of the Andrew McRobb workshops, a large 2-storey timber & corrugated iron structure. The proposal is for a 4-storey and flat-roofed structure, which could be acceptable but for the use of timber cladding, a material quite alien to this part of Aberdeen.
No. 34 Upperkirkgate: application for a new shopfront, replacing the existing rotten wood frontage.
No. 18 Ruby Place, off North Silver St: proposal for erection of nine flats; no problem.
No. 48 Dee St: dormer window; application for replacement of the two existing bay dormers with an ugly square box. Our submission: "This proposal is in a Conservation Area where a good number of traditional bay dormers are retained. Firstly, it does not comply with the Council's policy on dormer extensions, and secondly, any interference with the roof-line of this terrace of houses would be severely detrimental to the amenity of the Conservation Area in which it is located".
No. 120 Rosemount Place, formerly Rutherford Church: application for conversion to 10 flats. This building is the best example in Aberdeen of an Early English broach spire; but the application involves no detriment to the exterior; the interior was wrecked long ago. Also an application for removal of the existing flat roof, which recently had its lead unlawfully removed, and replacement by a more appropriate pitched & slated roof.
No. 224 Westburn Rd: application for demolition of garden wall and reinstatement of railings. This is a garden extension of the last house in the block west of Mile End Avenue.
No. 5 Carden Place: this is the house at the corner with Albert St, across the road from the former church. Proposal for extension of existing offices, doubling the floor plan and general bulk of the building. We object as follows: "This part of the Conservation Area has no large extensions on the street front. The current proposal would be detrimental to the general amenity of the area, in particular to that of the former Melville Carden Place Church of 1880, an outstanding example of the work of the local architects Ellis & Wilson".
BMI Hospital, Albyn Place: application for temporary removal of granite gate post and adjacent railings; presumably for temporary access.
No. 20 Queen's Rd: application for demolition of the existing 2-storey bay and erection of a 3-storey office building and car park to the rear. Another big extension in a former back garden, with corresponding loss of green space.
Nos. 31-33 Union Grove, the former petrol station: proposal for a new 3-storey block of flats to adjoin the existing 3-storey tenements and with a space between the new block and Ellis & Wilson's former St Nicholas (Union Grove) Church of 1888 at the corner with Holburn St, itself converted into flats in 1978.
Holburn St, former Crathie (Texaco) Filling Station: application by C&L Properties for a 3-storey office block with parking for some 40 cars. This replaces their earlier application to build 20 flats. Office rents in the Queen's Rd area have risen sharply, creating a demand for secondary locations such as Holburn St.
Craibstone Golf Centre: two applications for residential development; one for eight houses adjoining Brimmond Country Park and one for six houses nearer the Clubhouse. These are tantamount to applications for new houses in the country and cannot be justified for agricultural or any other reasons.
Peterculter: proposal for a detached house & garden on the main road between Culter and the start of the Drum Straight; this is on the Green Belt!
No. 85 Western Rd, Woodside: proposal for conversion of former Masonic lodge to a dwelling-house; splendid!
Nos. 21-23 High St, Old Aberdeen: application for partial demolition to make safe. These are the premises of Swallow Tours, and the gabled building fronting High St is in a derelict condition. We argued last time around that no permission should be given until an indication of the long-term proposal for the site is given.
Grandview, Kingswells: application for development of 19 houses, 27 flats, offices and a laboratory. This has been approved by the Infrastructure Services (i.e., Planning) Committee. Departure from the Green Belt allocation of the site is being sought.
Farburn Terrace, Dyce: the vacant site adjacent to the railway line; application for a 131-bedroomed hotel of banal design; the adjacent housing is satisfactory.
The impending transfer of the Marischal (College) Museum to the King's College campus in Old Aberdeen amounts to the final stage in the withdrawal of the University of Aberdeen from our city centre. As with public lectures, meetings etc, the Marischal Museum, which was accessable and convenient in the heart of town, will now be buried in the sprawling King's College campus. Trying to find one's way, on a dark winter's night, to the such-and-such building somewhere-or-other in that deserted ghost town, surrounded as it is by some of the poorest and most deprived residential estates in Aberdeen, is no joke and an experience few will attempt or choose to repeat.
Pub Takeover: ACC has decided to allow a larger proportion (up from 60% to 70%) of premises at the western end of Union St to be occupied by non-retail tenants, e.g., pubs and restaurants. This is so as to overcome a long-standing problem of vacant or untenanted premises. In particular, it has become very difficult to attract retail tenants to premises westwards of the Music Hall. The implication is that this western end of Union St will, in future, feature an even greater concentration of bars, clubs and fast-food outlets than at present. We have long argued that the consequences of the present density of alcohol-outlets are simply incompatible with the legitimate expectations of retailers and other business tenants; much as with the needs and entitlements of the local resident population. It is stated that: "future retail developments (e.g., Union Square) are likely to further increase the shift in shopping patterns away from the west end". Well, there's a surprise!
Global Trends: throughout the 1990s, oil was trading at around or below $20 per barrel, at one time as low as $10. More recently, the global price has been $120 or above, currently $135. This has dramatically altered the balance of power between oil-surplus and oil-deficit countries, e.g., between Russia and the USA, of which the latter now produces only 40% of its oil requirements, i.e., is a net importer to the extent of the other 60%. Britain, in the heyday of North Sea oil, used to be an oil-surplus country, but now produces about 90% of its requirements and is thus a net oil importer, albeit only to the extent of the other 10%. The high price obtainable for oil has stimulated an increase in oil-related investment and activity off the coast of Scotland; but the average size of the new oil fields being opened up is much less than in the 1970s & '80s - currently about 20 million barrels, compared with over 500 million barrels in the early 1970s. The small size of these new fields contributes to high extraction costs, estimated at $30-50 per barrel over the anticipated lifetime of the field. These small, high-cost North Sea oilfields were obviously not worth developing during the 1990s era of cheap oil, but are more attractive now. North Sea costs per barrel remain much higher than in big new oilfields being developed off the coast of Nigeria or Angola, but there are problems of political instability in these locations.
Another encouraging trend for the North-East is the marked increase in the price obtainable for basic foodstuffs. Farming may return to being a profitable industry. Winters are nothing to what they were 50 years ago and the North-East in general is free of the alternations of drought and flood affecting other UK regions. We may expect 'set-aside' land to be brought back into productive use and arable farming to extend further up the valleys and hillsides.
Our June 2008 Newsletter contains articles on:
- 'Trumptown'
- The 'Berryden Corridor'
- The New Aberdeen Draft Structure Plan
- How To Kill Off A Once Thriving Town Centre
- Aberdeen's Trams: Ends And Beginnings
- Aberdeen Foyer
- Maberly House, Maberly Street and John Maberly (1770-1845).
See our page ACS Newsletters 1.
Slains Castle and the Hays of Erroll - specifically the continuing mystery of the murder in Kenya of Lord Erroll in 1941 - see our page ACS Newsletters 2 - has resurfaced in a new biography of Erroll's first wife, Lady Idina Gordon (1893-1957), by her great-granddaughter, Frances Osborne, titled 'The Bolter'. Excerpts & review on the Times Newspapers website, other reviews elsewhere.
Berryden: the former Kilgour & Walker knitwear factory, latterly the Berryden Business Centre, is to be demolished in July with a view to widening or 'dualling' the 'Berryden Corridor'. This is regarded as a necessary pre-condition for the pedestrianisation of the mid-section of Union St. ACC's position has for some time been that pedestrianisation of Union St would go ahead only once an alternative east-west or cross-city route could be identified. So where is it? Hutcheon St? We can't think of anywhere else! And what will be the impact on the former Rosemount Church and the surrounding residential streets?
Triple Kirks: SMG has acquired the Triple Kirks site on Schoolhill/Belmont St, and proposes to turn it into an 'iconic' office development.
The new Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire (Draft) Structure Plan was launched on 2 April 2008. The Draft Plan aims to increase the region's population from the present 440,000 to 480,000 (possibly 500,000) by the year 2030. This would require the construction of some 72,000 new homes, about half of these to be in the city, through a mixture of regeneration projects and new developments on greenfield as well as brownfield sites. The Draft Plan maintains that the future growth of the region depends on its ability to pull in more people of working age, i.e., economic migrants from elsewhere in Britain and Europe. Councillor Scott Cassie said that a (continued) decline in population would be incompatible with "what we want to do". The 72,000 new homes are held to be essential if young families are to move in. Councillor Kevin Stewart said: "We need to reverse the situation that as soon as people have children they move out of the city ... there are not enough affordable homes for families in the city and that needs to change". The population of Aberdeen City peaked out in 1995, at nearly 220,000. It is now around 200,000; a fall of about 10% in as many years. Part of ACC's financial problem is that its largest source of income is the block grant from central government, which is awarded on a per capita basis. All things equal, a 10% fall in population results in a 10% fall in the grant, whilst many overheads and other expenses remain unchanged; hence enforced cutbacks. Any continuing net exodus of population is thus a matter of concern, with serious implications.
This year's Awards Ceremony will be on Wednesday 22nd October 2008, at the Town House, 7.30 for 8 pm.
Nos. 60-62 Union St, the Clydesdale Bank: proposal for internal alterations to create flats. This is James Matthews' 1863 exercise in polychromatic Baroque at the corner of St Nicholas St. The only external alteration is one new skylight, behind the parapet.
No. 2 Golden Square: proposal for internal alterations to create flats; no problems.
No. 23 Rosemount Viaduct: proposal for new windows to the rear of these splendid tenement blocks opposite the Central Library.
Maberly House, Maberly St, near the former Broadford Works: application to demolish and replace with a banal development of 4-storey flats. Maberly House was built sometime before 1811 and is associated with the meteoric Englishman John Maberly (1770-1845), who purchased the Broadford Works in 1810 and commenced linen manufacture there. Maberly House is 3-bay and 2-storey under a hipped roof, with a 3-bay Tuscan portico and handsome gate piers with original lampholders. Adjacent streets - Charlotte St, Ann St - are named after John Maberly's daughters. See Norman Marr's article in our June 2008 Newsletter.
No. 33 Queen's Rd: proposal for internal alterations to create a new branch of Lloyds-TSB bank.
Norwood Hall, Pitfodels: proposal to create a large extension to the south & west sides, which would give an almost symmetrical north elevation.
No. 207 King St: re the ongoing development; this was the former residence of Mr Farquhar, the Aberdeen artist, who deserves a plaque.
Our March 2008 Newsletter contains items on:
- The Bon Accord Baths
- The Emptying Of The Inner City
- Evacuation Problems
- In Defence Of St Nicholas House
- Memories Of Shops And Shopping In Aberdeen
- Books: 'Lost Aberdeen - The Outskirts' by Diane Morgan (reviewed), and 'Tudor Johnny' by David G. Miller (preview).
See our page ACS Newsletters 1.
Salvation Army Citadel: application re signage; the message is contained within the glazed areas of the new ground floor windows and comprises the S.A. logo and the words "In the heart of the city with a heart for the city".
No. 16 Exchequer Row: application re new windows; these are in the old building with the wallhead gable at the corner of Shiprow; the new windows to be of traditional timber & sash.
No. 4 Trinity St: application for alterations & extension; this is the building next to the pub at the corner of Trinity St & Carmelite Lane. Granite is to be used on the frontage facing out towards the Station.
Bon-Accord Baths: as part of its programme of economies, ACC is to close the 1937 art deco Baths in Justice Mill Lane. We might wonder how this fits with all we've been told about Britain being the 4-5th largest economy in the world, doing so well, etc, when it now seems we can't even afford to keep up amenities we've had all through the Depression, World War Two, post-war austerity and all those decades past when, as a nation, we were much poorer than now. We were reminded of this when looking at old photographs from the 1950s & '60s of the Duthie Park, its duck-pond full of water, ducks, paddleboats, kiddies enjoying themselves, compared with its present dried-up and derelict condition. It seems as though we were living in Soviet-era Poland, subjected to constant cut-backs and deprivations, whilst the regime peddles us a whole Orwellian pyramid of lies about how everything is getting better in leaps and bounds. More seriously, it's all about choices and priorities, chaps!
Further to the above: we are reminded that, back in the old days, we might have been as poor as church mice, but we all had access to world-class amenities such as the Bon Accord Baths, Aberdeen Art Gallery, the Central Library, the Hazlehead and Duthie parks etc. Such facilities present a large part of the case for coinuing to live in the City, as against joining the exodus to the Shire. The rundown or closure of such amenities effectively widens the gap between rich and poor and contributes to social exclusion. And then they wonder why the kids run amok!
The Works discount bookseller is the latest High Street retail chain to go into administration. This follows the recent exit of Fopp from its Union St/Belmont St premises.
Causewayend School is one of the many handsome and impressive (and granite!) Board schools created in Aberdeen for the expanding city population of the later 19th century. Causewayend School is more handsome and impressive than most, designed by William Smith in 1875 and with a later baronial keep by William Kelly. But the school is now under threat of closure, because of the declining numbers of children in its catchment area of Mounthooly-Gallowgate-West North Street. Not for the first time, we are struck by the sheer folly of the systematic removal of population and community from this once-thriving and central neighbourhood, through demolition of older tenement housing and its replacement (if at all) by tower block flats, soon found to be unsuited to the needs of families. Kittybrewster, Victoria Road and Stoneywood Schools are also under threat of closure, for similar reasons.
Population Trends: over the period 2006-2031, population is expected to rise or fall as follows:
Scotland: +5.0%
Aberdeen City: -9.3%
Aberdeenshire: +18.9%
Total Populations in 2006:
Aberdeen City: 206,880
Aberdeenshire: 236,260
Aberdeen City's population peaked out in 1995, at 219,880.
Numbers aged 0-14 in 2006:
Aberdeen City: 30,331
Aberdeenshire: 42,997
Thus, in 2006, the total population of Aberdeen City was 87.6% that of Aberdeenshire; but the 0-14 population of Aberdeen City was only 70.5% that of Aberdeenshire. And children, as we know, are the future!
Another study gives under-16s as 15.8% of Aberdeen City's population, compared with 19.6% of Aberdeenshire's.
Over the period 2004-2024, the population of Aberdeen City is expected to fall from 205,710 to 168,184; whilst that of Aberdeenshire is expected to rise from 231,570 to 242,485. Thus the combined population of Aberdeen City & Shire is expected to fall from 437,280 in 2004 to 410,679 in 2024, i.e., by 26,601.
"Globalisation and the death of distance have increased the rewards for being smart, and you become smart by hanging out with smart people. As such, cities remain important because they create the intellectual connections that forge human capital and spur innovation". - Ed Glaeser.
The P&J of 18/01/2008 reports that portable toilets are now located in Union Row, Langstane Place, Gaelic Lane and St Nicholas Street, from 11 pm to 5 am, to accommodate the all-too visible end-products of Aberdeen's alcohol-fuelled night-time economy. As a result, Council staff are no longer having to hose down so many doorways. Shop and other workers trying to access their places of employment in the morning, and having to step over puddles and trickles of urine and deal with 'disgusting' door handles and keyholes, have also welcomed the new temporary toilets. We may wonder why anyone would want to try to run a business in such an environment, or why shop and other staff should have to contend with such squalid conditions first thing in the morning, every morning. The fact of the matter is that the consequences of the night-time alcohol-economy are incompatible with the legitimate expectations of both the day-time business community and local residents, for whom Union Street is their everyday shopping environment. There is a need to establish priorities and take real decisions; portable lavvies are hardly the answer.
Alcohol & Disorder In Aberdeen City Centre: see our page Comment & Opinion 2.
A City's Architecture: Castlegate Arts has commissioned the distinguished architect and author, Dr W A (Bill) Brogden, to deliver a series of four lectures on the architecture of our city, at Aberdeen Arts Centre, No. 33 King Street, Aberdeen AB24 5AA; tel. 01224 635208. The titles and dates - all Mondays at 7.30 pm - are as follows:-
Monday 11th Feb 2008: The Medieval Town Of The 17th Century; and how it continues to influence the city of today.
Monday 18th Feb 2008: The Designed City of the 19th century; Union St to Rosemount Viaduct.
Monday 25th Feb 2008: Architecture For Everyman; how we lived in cottages, flats & bungalows and made them into architecture.
Monday 3rd March 2008: The Perfect Pattern For A Town; the future ... what is broken, shabby or needs replacement.
Nos. 13-23 Market St: this is the former Mechanics' Institute, by Archibald Simpson, 1845, latterly the Bon Accord Hotel, plus the building next down the slope. Application for alterations and extension for office use. Our only objection is to the semi-circular '21' sign over the doorway; not appropriate on a facade of this quality.
Nos. 7-21 St Nicholas St: the first building beyond St Nicholas Lane. Proposal for a new retail store. No Listed building is adversely affected.
No. 48 Upperkirkgate: application for conversion and change-of-use from present Burger King outlet to a new Bank of Scotland branch.
No. 14 Belmont St: the Slains Castle pub, the former South Church, by John Smith, 1830; application for additional gates and umbrellas for smokers; gaudy and vulgar, inappropriate to this distinguished building.
No. 20 Queen's Rd: application for an existing single-storey wing to be replaced by a 3-storey extension; render & glass finish.
Springfield Rd/Countesswells Rd: a proposal to demolish two bungalows and replace with blocks of flats; would destroy the integrity of this Bisset scheme.
Grandholm: the former Heritage Centre; application for change-of-use from restaurant to a dental practice. This is a Category A Listed Building, but we see no problem.
An important new book by local author Diane Morgan, "Lost Aberdeen: The Outskirts", is now available. In this companion volume to her highly popular "Lost Aberdeen", Diane takes us from Aberdeen's first suburb of Gilcolmston through such as Berryden, Kittybrewster, Old & New Torry, the Clayhills and Ferryhill, seeking out vanished pleasure gardens, iron foundries, breweries and distilleries. Fully illustrated with maps and photographs. Published by Birlinn, 212 pages in hardback @ £16.99, ISBN 978 1 84158 550 5, and available at all good bookshops.
'Tudor Johnny' - David Miller's new book on John Smith, Aberdeen's first City Architect, is to be published on 5th March 2008.
Trumped: the recent 8:7 vote by the Infrastructure Services Committee of Aberdeenshire Council against Donald Trump's proposed golf complex and residential development on the Menie estate near Balmedie has resulted in an almost demented level of abuse and vilification of elected representatives. This correspondent has always been broadly in favour of the 'world class' golfing complex originally proposed. But the associated residential development, the full scale of which was revealed only much later, is several steps too far. Mr Trump proposes the two golf courses, a 450-bedroom hotel, a conference centre and spa, 36 golf villas, 950 holiday apartments and 500 houses. This suggests an on-site population of perhaps 5,000 residents and visitors, plus up to 1,000 employees; a residential community about the size of Banchory. Anyone who from the outset had proposed creating a settlement the size of Banchory on what amounts to Balmedie beach would, of course, have been laughed out of court. Other, more modest options regarding the size of the residential development (amongst other issues) have been recommended to Mr Trump. It has been his choice, and his alone, to reject these. The options available to Mr Trump are thus, as to any other developer, to (a) appeal to the Scottish Government, or (b) submit a revised version of the original proposal to Aberdeenshire Council. Mr Trump has thus far declined these options also.
Our December 2007 Newsletter includes articles on:
The Civic Society Awards 2007
Union Street
Union Terrace Gardens
Centres Of Activity and Public Spaces
Aberdeen's Coat-Of-Arms
See our page ACS Newsletters.
From Castlegate to Holburn Junction: a bright, sunny but cold weekday afternoon in October. This end of King St is almost completely deserted. The buildings are architecturally impressive but dirty and neglected, with no sign of business or any other activity going on. The Castlegate is almost empty and bitterly cold, this last much complained about by the traders and stallholders of the International and German markets when they were held here; must be the wind-chill factor. The only legitimate business activity observable consists of the familiar downbeat bars, bookies, charity shops and newsagent. Down Market St past the Aberdeen Market: this is the lower stretch of ACC's projected 'north-south axis', extending from John Lewis and M&S across Union St to the projected Union Square on the far side of Guild St. Neither the tacky Aberdeen Market building nor Market St in general seem up to this enhanced role, somehow. Through Hadden St to the Green, completely deserted at 2.30 pm on, to repeat, a bright, sunny weekday afternoon. There are shops and businesses, but few if any customers around. On the positive side, your correspondent was not on this occasion accosted by drunks, beggars or prostitutes. ACC has spent much money on the Green, and to good effect, but the people just ain't comin'. The visual aspect at the east end remains spoiled by the unlovely rear of the Aberdeen Market building, also at the west end by the Trinity Centre Car Park (multi-storey), although some attempt has been made to conceal this last from view. The effect is still not pretty, but it is an improvement. The Back Wynd stairs to Union St, the filthy condition of which has given rise to vociferous complaint from local residents and traders (see our Sept. 2007 Newsletter) seem to have been scoured clean of gunge & detritus for the time being. Back on Union St: Aberdeen's ugliest building, the 1960s elongated eggbox between Huntly St and the Music Hall, remains as unsightly, dirty and ill-maintained as ever. However, heading westwards up Union St, we are pleased to report that the huge building on the south side once occupied by the sadly-missed Watt & Grant's department store, but in recent years empty apart from Austin Reed and the unlamented Quid's In, has been renovated to good effect and now accomodates the Boss, Cruise and G*Star Raw fashion shops. And back across the road, the former Waterstone's premises at the corner of Union St & Union Row, untenanted for years past, now accomodates McLeish's very useful delicatessen & convenience store.
Slains Castle, Cruden Bay: the scheme to convert the roofless ruin of Slains Castle into 35 holiday apartments is reported to be back on track, with work expected to begin in 2008. The architect, Douglas Forrest, is quoted in the Observer of 14/10/07 thus: "We aim to rebuild the shell of the Castle to its original form ... Bram Stoker (the author of 'Dracula') was inspired by a complete building, not a ruin ... the idea is to retain as much of the original facade as possible ... we see no reason why there should be any alteration externally in restoring the building and sub-dividing it". From 1893 onwards, Bram Stoker stayed at Cruden Bay every summer, at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel or, latterly, renting a cottage in the fishing hamlet of Whinnyfold. Besides 'Dracula', he is known to have written at least four other supernatural stories inspired by the the area.
Berryden Business Centre, a.k.a. the Printagraph building: we seem to be in familiar territory whereby a fairly unexceptionable and inoffensive building, e.g., the Dee Motel or RGU Kepplestone, is suddenly labelled an 'eyesore' or a 'blot on the landscape' once somebody wants to demolish it, often so as to replace it with an arguably worse eyesore. ACC voted in June to demolish the 5-storey former knitwear factory building (which it owns) mainly with a view to widening or 'dualling' Berryden Road; but the road development has since been abandoned for financial reasons. ACC still intends to demolish the former knitwear factory but has no particular plans for the site beyond landscaping. The 5-storey factory building is granite-built, is austere but elegantly symmetrical in style and seems in sound general condition. We don't knock down Aberdeen's traditional granite buildings without compelling reason. New flats are being built nearby. Couldn't the former knitwear factory be converted into residential apartments, like the nearby Broadford Works?
The Civic Society's Awards Ceremony, 2007: see our page Annual Awards & Commendations.
Our quarterly Newsletters: see our new page ACS Newsletters. Our most recent (September 2007) Newsletter contains articles on:
- recent Planning applications;
- Marischal College;
- Castlegate, Castlehill;
- the Green & the Back Wynd stairs;
- the Kirks of Aberdeen (Part 3);
- Dr Thomas Reid and the Aberdeen Philosophical Society of 1758-1773.
Nos. 445-453 Union St and No. 16 Justice Mill Lane: proposal for extension to Bell's Hotel to form a 138-bedroom hotel of 11 storeys and car park; the present Bell's Hotel frontage to Union St to be replaced by two retail units (possibly an improvement); glass curtain walling to JML. This is one of four new hotel developments planned in the vicinity, reflecting the current shortage of hotel space in Aberdeen.
No. 1 Trinity Quay: proposal to create four flats, next to the corner block at Market St.
Nos. 56-60 Langstane Place: proposal for change-of-use to a 25-bedroom hotel and bar/diner; six-storeys, in Chinese granite, just west of Bruce Miller's.
Justice Mill Lane, the former Galloway & Sykes building: proposal for a 119-bedroom hotel & restaurant of 7-storeys; adjacent to and twice the height of the Bon Accord Baths. There are now four new hotels proposed for the JML area. But on the whole, we regard these hotel developments as a welcome diversification of activity away from the present excessive dominance of clubs, bars and fast-food outlets in this area.
No. 2 Powis Place: proposal for a residential development of 40 flats at the corner of Powis Place & Canal Rd; four storeys with polished granite at ground level, adequate parking.
No. 79 Balgownie Rd: proposal for a new entrance to Glover House and car park; quite well done.
Queen Mother Library: proposal for demolition & replacement by a new University Library; a v. large 8-storey building, near Bedford Rd.
No. 2 Albyn Place: the proposed 2-storey rear extension is now acceptable, but we suggest that the new rear door to the side be contained within a recessed area running the full height of the building.
No. 27 Victoria St: proposal for replacement windows; sash & case, 12-pane.
No. 11 Albert Terrace: proposal for extension and raising of the rear wing; seems in character.
No. 6 Queen's Rd: proposal for new-build to rear, 3-storey curtain walling, render & aluminium finishes, and railings to front.
Morningside Rd: proposal for change-of-use of offices to flats, new indoor nets and a 3-storey office block for Aberdeenshire Cricket Club.
No. 19 Hamilton Place: proposal for demolition & rebuild. This house was the home of Lord Provost 'Tommy' Mitchell (1936-47), and has been falling down for a v. long time; used to be the site of the Loanhead Quarry. The new-build is sensitively designed and omits some later extensions.
Castlegate: ACC decided to relocate the International Market of 10th-12th August to Union Terrace. Mr Tom Moore commented: "None of the events at the Castlegate has been an absolute success ... we've tried everything to encourage people to come, but they just won't ... some of the stalls do quite well, but others are just dead". This has serious implications as regards the regeneration of the Castlegate. The International Market is a genuinely popular event. (Anecdotal evidence is that it does better in Union Terrace than in the Castlegate, although not as well as when on Union St.) But if not even the Market can attract people into the Castlegate, then it is difficult to see what will. The problems are (a) the Castlegate is a backwater, some way removed from the main centre of activity and not an obvious routeway of choice to anywhere in particular, and (b) that for all its historic significance, people do not find the Castlegate a congenial place. Visitors are repelled by (from recent observation) blatant and overt drug-dealing, drug-abusers collapsing in the street, out-of-control drunks and alkies and aggressive & intimidatory begging. Like observation can be made of the Green, Union Terrace Gardens and the Schoolhill end of St Nicholas Kirkyard, similarly shunned by decent, non-criminal folk, who have other options available to them nowadays and who can, in effect, vote with their feet.
Marischal College: we should be clear that the only available options for Marischal College are (a) that ACC moves in, or (b) demolition. See our page Comment & Opinion 1.
Beechgrove Church: proposal for conversion of the former church to 17 flats and underground car park. This is Brown & Watt's magnificent church of 1896 in the First Pointed style, which has fallen victim to the current policies of the Church of Scotland. The interior is to be converted to 17 apartments going right up to and over the level of the vaulted ceiling and into the roofspace. It has to be said that the interior of the building does not reflect the architectural purity of the exterior, and will be no great loss. However, we feel that care must be taken not to form overly significant horizontal divisions in the tall lancet windows, particularly those on the west front, and that a more convincing infill should be devised for the former door openings there and on Midstocket Rd.
The Old Schoolhouse, Little Belmont St: now a pub, part of the Hogshead chain. Proposal for alterations to the frontage to accommodate a lift for the disabled from street level to the 'ground' floor. This building is John Smith's iconic Town Schools of 1840, in the Classical style, Category A Listed and in the Union St Conservation Area. The proposed lift chops away at the steps at the right side of the portico. This is an unacceptable way to treat one of the city's most important Listed Buildings. The developer should instruct his architects to produce an alternative scheme such as provides disabled access but which respects the outstanding quality of this building.
No. 2 Albyn Place: proposal for construction of a rear extension. This is the house at the corner of Victoria St where a proposal for a single-storey extension with a metal roof was rejected by the Society some time ago. The current proposal is for a two-storey wing - an extension of the existing north wing - of acceptable design, but not in due proportion; the scale is wrong and at variance with the storey height of the existing wing, and the door at the junction of the old & new wings is about as bad as it could be in terms of placing and relation to its building. The drawings do not specify the materials to be used. This design is unacceptable as an addition to a Category B Listed Building in a Conservation Area.
Union Terrace Gardens: proposal by Peacock to create a Centre for Contemporary Arts on the west side of the Gardens, below and around the Robert Burns statue - all below street level. We feel this proposal is not sympathetic to the landscape of the Gardens and it would erode the character of Union Terrace. It would destroy the Listed arcade which sets off the splendid Terrace of Listed buildings and would intrude on to the western flank of the Gardens, eliminating the last few remnants of the Forest of Stocket. If a Centre for Contemporary Arts is required, the obvious solution would be to restore the remaining parts of the Triple Kirks building, with any necessary new-build in character with the original. This would be a worthwhile challenge for designers and for a Council with the real interests of the city in mind - ACC refuses to make any financial contribution.
No. 10 Springbank St: proposal for replacement doors & windows in UPVC - not in a Listed building in a Conservation Area!
No. 21 Polmuir Rd: proposal for alterations & extension to provide 12 flats. The extension would tend to overcrowd the existing house on the site - could be handled more sensitively.
No. 32-34 Queen's Rd: the Olive Branch; proposal for change-of-use to a hot-food takeaway at the doorway on Spademill Rd. We feel the creation of a takeaway facility on this one-way lane near its junction with Queen's Rd and the stopping of vehicles at this point, only a few metres from the Queen's Gate roundabout, will cause a potential traffic hazard and be detrimental to public safety.
Aberdeen's International Market relocates to Union Terrace for its next 3-day visit on 10-12th August. Thus far, the Market has generally been located in the Castlegate on Fridays and on the mid-section of Union St on Saturdays and Sundays. The relocation to Union Terrace follows police concerns about traffic management problems arising from the closure of Union St. We have consistently argued that the Market should occupy the Castlegate throughout its 3-day visits. The Castlegate is Aberdeen's historic market-place, it needs the business and visitors and it involves no disruption to traffic at all. By contrast, Union Terrace allows buses access to Schoolhill & Upperkirkgate - how else is this to be achieved? The Market has, at least on Fridays, given us a reason and incentive to visit the historic Castlegate, which affords the most spectacular views of the mile-length of Union Street and downtown Aberdeen - views we don't otherwise get to see often enough.
Fopp Closure: the Fopp chain, retailing CDs, DVDs and books, occupied premises at the corner of Union St & Belmont St, and its demise is something of a loss. Book and music shops are a large part of the attraction of 'downtown' and an important element of the cultural scene. If they go, how much is left?
The Chimera Of 'Affordable' Housing: see our page Comment & Opinion 3.
Our Programme for 2007-8 - see our page Coming Events.
Archibald Simpson (1790-1847); an important new book on our greatest local architect, to whom Aberdeen (and the N-E) owes many of its finest buildings; large-format paperback, comprehensively illustrated @ £14.95. The author is David Miller, himself an architect resident in Aberdeen. Published by Librario Publishing Ltd - see their website www.librario.com - ISBN 1-904440-84-3.
Importance Of The Economic Base: a city, town or neighbourhood has to be much more than just a collection of buildings and streets. There has to be a base of economic activity - business, investment, trade & employment - otherwise it becomes merely a ghost town or, at best, a heritage museum like Venice. There has to be at least the prospect of profitable business activity for investment to take place and for employment to be created. President Bush has promised to 'rebuild' New Orleans, presumably in the belief that city = buildings; but the economic base of New Orleans faded away long ago, not least because of corrupt & incompetent civic administration, poor public services and rampant criminality. The original 'Crescent City', comprising about 10% of latter-day New Orleans and built on the highest land, may have some kind of future as a tourist trap/cultural museum, but otherwise it's over, gone. Once (legitimate) business withdraws, everything else goes too; most of us have to live (near) where we can earn a living. There are obvious lessons here as regards Aberdeen's Union Street, Castlegate etc. Policy needs to be directed towards economic regeneration, to creating a more favourable & attractive environment for business enterprise & investment, job-creation, the local resident population, visitors & shoppers, before it is all too late.
No. 27 Waverley Place: the former Prince Regent Hotel; application for conservation rooflights; no objection.
No. 80 Carden Place, the Dental Practice occupying the last house in Carden Place before Queen's Cross: application for an access ramp, faced with dark blue glazed brick and with railings; OK.
Nos. 59-63 Queen's Rd (Simpson's): application for a 'smoking shelter' at the rear of the building; not inappropriate.
No. 117B Spital: application for an extension. This is a detached house with semi-derelict land around it; the extension, in traditional style, is to be wrapped around two sides of the house.
Moss-Side: application for an office building, three storeys with restaurant & gym, to be sited on Wellington Rd amid the pipeyards north of Checkbar, and finished in curtain walling. OK for what it is!
No. 367 Union St: proposal for conversion and change-of-use. This is essentially a development at Langstane Place level with a take-away facility at the rear entrance. The plans indicate the possibility of a first-floor restaurant at the rear.
No. 64 Justice Mill Lane: proposal for removal of the existing shop front, with its inappropriate glass brick panel, and its replacement by a wood panel and glass screen; good.
No. 10 North Silver St: application for change-of-use and internal alterations; no effect on Listed status.
No. 117 Spital: proposal for a new house to stand within the back garden area of No. 117; traditional pitch gable end to street, one-and-a-half storeys with render to match the existing; quite reasonable.
Dalhebity House, Baillieswells Rd, Bieldside: proposal for erection of a substitute house and ancillary accommodation. The existing sprawling mansion is to be replaced by a very large but more compact mansion in a sort of Edwardian Baroque style; not out-of-keeping in this location.
Greyhope Rd: proposal for new equipment, radar antenna, 8 metres high, for the Harbour Board at Girdleness Lighthouse. It will stand outside the walled compound between the line of the road and the top of the coastal slope and will not impede any views of the Listed (Category A) lighthouse.
Residential Property Market: the Times of 27th April quotes Knight Frank to the effect that the average property price in the city is £175,523, closer to the UK average of £192,314 than the Scottish average of £138,655. Comparative figures are: Edinburgh, £205,189; Glasgow, £155,123 and Dundee, £138,688. Aberdeen prices rose 16% last year, the highest rate of increase in Scotland. The effect is that the average house in Aberdeen now costs seven times the average wage, meaning that the average worker cannot afford the average house. The minimum price for a two-bedroom flat in the city is given as about £80,000. Renting a two-bedroom flat costs £700-800 per month, compared with £550-650 in Edinburgh and Glasgow. A general rule-of-thumb is that properties are rented out for about 1% of their value per month, implying a gross return of 12% p.a. for the landlord, assuming the property is tenanted all year round. The rented sector in Aberdeen is fuelled by the large semi-transient population of oil workers and students at the two universities. The student population grew by 27% to 27,000 between 2000 and 2005. The residential market in Aberdeen should continue to expand given expectations that global oil prices will remain high, being presently around $70 per barrel compared with an average of about $20 through the 1990s. Unemployment in Aberdeen is presently under 2%, compared with a Scottish average of 5.6%.
Citylets reports that the average rental value of a one-bedroom flat in Aberdeen in the first quarter of 2007 was £499 per month, compared with £494 in Edinburgh and £434 in Glasgow. The Aberdeen figure represents an 18.4% increase on the same quarter last year, compared with just 1.6% in Edinburgh and 3.0% in Glasgow. For two-bedroom flats, the average Aberdeen rental was £788 per month, compared with £637 in Edinburgh and £563 in Glasgow. The high level of rents in Aberdeen is said to be consequent on the continued strength of the Aberdeen economy, an increase in employment in the oil & gas sector and the rise of Aberdeen property prices.
Triple Kirks: the proposal to transform the Triple Kirks site in Schoolhill into an arts centre, to house Peacock Visual Arts and other groups including City Moves and White Space, has been abandoned on grounds of practicality and cost. Peacock are now proposing that an arts centre be built in Union Terrace Gardens, directly below the Robert Burns statue.
No. 78 Union St: this is the Royal Bank of Scotland, in neo-Classical style by Jenkins & Marr in 1929, at the west corner of Union St/St Nicholas St. The proposal is to place illuminated advertising units inside the windows, which will have clear glass installed to facilitate viewing. We feel no great enthusiasm for this scheme!
No. 17 Carden Place: proposal for alterations & extension to rear annexe. This is one of the big single-storey plus basement & attic villas across the road from St Mary's Church. The building presently has a good-mannered extension comprising one floor with a mansard roof having quasi-dormer windows at the sides. The current proposal adds another floor. The first floor is to be clad in lead sheets, whilst the (new) top floor is to be flat-roofed with horizontal cedar linings on the extended wall areas. We feel the roof design could be revised so as to be more in sympathy with neighbouring properties; similarly, walling materials could be more in keeping with the existing house.
No. 11 Albyn Place: proposal for change-of-use of the lower floor, from the present nightclub/bar to hotel accomodation, comprising ten twin bedrooms, one double bedroom and one disabled.
No. 6 Queen's Rd: application for demolition of the present rear extension and erection of a new three-storey extension of roughly the same ground area as the Victorian house itself. The style is mainly glass curtain wall with narrow strips of rendering and the top floor slightly recessed from those below. We feel that the practice of building very large rear extensions in back gardens has already gone too far. In addition, we would prefer to see these fine Victorian granite houses being redeveloped for residential rather than commercial/office purposes.
No. 9 Queen's Rd: application for change-of-use & refurbishment. This large Victorian house, with a modest single-storey rear extension, was formerly a casino. The proposal is to redevelop it as offices with a new extension which will be larger than the house itself, and out of character with the adjoining houses. We feel it is time to call a halt to the wholesale over-extension of these fine houses.
No. 46 Queen's Rd: application for a new office building, two-storeys, at the foot of the back garden; modest enough and appropriately designed.
Nos. 49-53 Queen's Rd: 'Malmaison', the former Queen's Hotel, Listed, Category C. An (amended) application for alterations & extension. We objected to this last time on the basis that the proposed extension is too big; that objection remains.
No. 8 Queen's Terrace (Listed, Category B): proposal to demolish the boiler room and build a two-storey extension in the basement area. This is a further extension to a house which already has a rear extension half the width of the feu. The proposal for the basement and ground floor has glass walls and a roof with a shallow lean-to pitch; we would suggest something more in keeping with the existing rear extension.
No. 72 Rubislaw Den North: proposal for a rear extension in the same style and materials as that already existing.
Stoneywood Rd, the site adjacent to Waterton House: application for six detached dwelling-houses and garages. We are concerned to see new properties crowding around the B-Listed Waterton House.
Aberdeen City Centre Masterplan, Stakeholder Engagement Workshop: your correspondent attended this event in the Town House on March 27th. Familiar problem that the issues people most wanted to discuss, e.g., Pedestrianisation, the Bon Accord Quarter and Union Square, were declared off-limits because ACC had already voted these through. Interesting input from other attendees, but usual sense that we are being treated like performing seals and led through a series of hoops so that the required 'consultation' boxes can be ticked.
Oil & Gas Fuel Aberdeen Land Rush: the Scotsman of March 28th reports that Aberdeen's success as a global hub for the oil & gas industry has led to a major shortage of land and commercial property for firms looking to expand. Mr Ken Shaw, partner at property firm Ryden's, said: "To say that the market is busy would be an understatement ... there is virtually no Grade A office space available in the city centre or west end of Aberdeen ... demand has stimulated new construction projects (e.g., SMG's 'Union Plaza' building off Union Row) but most of these will not be available for occupation until 2008." And Rita Stephen of ACSEF said: "Companies like BP, Shell and Chevron are investing millions in their buildings ... the public and private sectors need to work together to make sure we can supply what companies need." Steve Judge, who is working on a £7 million redevelopment of an existing office space for Maersk, says: "There is a high demand for space but a shortage of supply ... the challenge is to redevelop what is already there ... development is taking place on the periphery, in industrial estates and commercial parks, but not everyone wants that."
Aberdeen City and Shire: an official web portal has been created at: www.aberdeencityandshire.com.
Nos. 23-27 Netherkirkgate: application for refurbishment and extension of the public house; a tidying-up of the former City Bar and its neighbouring establishment.
No. 15 Bon Accord Square: application for conversion of part of the former United Services Club to flats; a good scheme by Bowden.
No. 395 King St: proposal for new HQ for FirstGroup PLC, part of which involves the refurbishment of the Listed former Barracks building facing King St. A good scheme, but a pity FirstGroup aren't going to Guild St!
Nos 393-5 Great Western Rd: the Edwardian Hotel; proposal for change-of-use to 30 flats, involving two 3-storey extensions to the rear, which is in need of renovation; may well improve the amenity of the adjacent residential properties.
Nos. 83, 85 & 87 Argyll Place: proposal for period gate & railings, in the style of the railings at the Hamilton Place Bowling Green - by the same architects, Pirie & Clyne; good.
The Balgownie Centre, Aberdeen College, once the Bridge of Don Secondary School: proposal for demolition and erection of a large residential development of 19 houses, 17 town houses and no fewer than 246 flats, these last to take the form of a 4-5 storey "cliff" of flats on the side nearest the A90 main road. This seems to be a clear case of over-development, of excessively high-density, comprising too many flats relative to a derisory number of houses - unpropitious as regards the chances of the development ever evolving into a settled residential community, and with obvious traffic implications. There is something obviously wrong when family-sized houses are scarcely being built anywhere, the more so in a development away out in the suburbs. ACC's Planning Brief for this site seems to have been simply ignored.
Seaton Primary School: application for refurbishment & extension. This involves demolition of some of the ancillary buildings, but the Art Deco core of the school is retained.
Castlegate: The Tipping Point: ACC's Planning Committee has voted down the proposal by Grampian Housing Association and NHS Grampian to build a drug abusers' treatment centre or clinic, with 53 low-rent flats to be built above, on the Justice St or Timmer Market car park, at the expense of about 70 car parking spaces. (For further details, see below - quite some way below!) But the proposal may now go to Appeal. It would doubtless be in the public interest for the treatment or rehabilitation facilities available to drug abusers to be upgraded and improved. But there is a bigger picture here, an over-arching objective, which is that of the long-term regeneration of Aberdeen's historic Castlegate, which requires that visitors, shoppers, business enterprise, investment and jobs are attracted into the Castlegate rather than driven out. Similarly, the residential population of the Castlegate area needs to be built up. People need to feel confident in the long-term future of the Castlegate, that it will be a good place in which to live and/or do business, such that they will invest in or rent residential and commercial property. Ideally, people have to be confident that this will be a fit place in which to raise children, such that local schools are sustained. There have been signs of improvement in the Castlegate in recent years; the Barratts development of flats and maisonettes on the south (harbour) side, the renovation and conversion of older buildings, the Continental and German markets. But the whole area remains vulnerable and perilously close to that 'tipping point' beyond which shoppers stay away, businesses shut down and property-owners sell up. This correspondent suspects that the loss of the car park and the advent of a drug users' clinic, with the additional problems it would bring, might be just enough to push the Castlegate over the edge, beyond the tipping point. There are other, much less damaging possible locations for a drugs treatment centre, e.g., ARI at Foresterhill.
See 'Characteristics of Areas In Danger Of Abandonment' - our page Comment & Opinion 2.
Nos. 55-67 Union St: the former House of Fraser corner; application for change-of-use to 30 maisonettes or two-storey apartments, from the first floor upwards. No detriment to the exterior, but no car parking either.
Nos 7-21a St Nicholas St: proposal for sub-division of existing Gap shop to form five units; no danger to exterior.
The Merchants' House, No. 81 Waterloo Quay; proposal for an office development with multi-storey car park. A big development, but the elegant warehouse frontage is retained intact.
No. 15 North Square, Footdee: application for demolition of shed and erection of new shed and replacement windows. The windows are traditional timber sash & case and the shed is of vertical boards like all the others; all very acceptable.
No. 571 Great Western Rd: the former Mannofield petrol station; proposal for demolition and erection of a retail development; seems quite acceptable.
Pitfodels Hostel & School: proposal for a new International School on the site of the former Pitfodels School & Hostel. The Victorian Pitfodels House is the only element to be retained on this large site, bounded by the North Deeside Rd, the New Marcliffe Hotel, Airyhall Rd and Northcote Park. There will be a large new block between the House and Airyhall Rd and a new swimming pool building projecting southwards to the front building line of the House. There is to be new vehicular access to the North Deeside Rd and Airyhall Rd. No objection.
Western Peripheral Road: it is striking that those supporting the WPR do so almost solely on the basis that it will relieve traffic congestion in Aberdeen City. It won't. Only about 10% of the vehicular traffic coming in over the Brig o' Dee travels cross-city, northward and out again. The other 90% comes into the city and stops there. The WPR would allow some drivers to by-pass the Brig o' Dee and come in by, say, the North Deeside Rd; but it is already heavily trafficked. The main effect of the WPR will be to encourage even more people to live outside the city and commute in. The net outcome may well be to increase traffic congestion and parking difficulty in the city itself. That said, the WPR will probably be good for Aberdeenshire, allowing easier communication between that archipelago of small towns and dispersed communities peripheral to the city. The relationship between city and shire is changing fast. The small towns of the rural hinterland and sea-coast are no longer mere satellites, dormitory suburbs and commuter settlements. The peripheral townships are now in active and successful competion with the city for young,middle-income families and residents possessed of transferable and entrepreneurial skills, for business investment and jobs. The city will have to work hard to develop and maintain its own areas of comparative advantage, e.g., the universities & colleges, relative to its periphery and hinterland. So, for Aberdeen City and Shire, taken together, the WPR may turn out to be A Good Thing. But it would be easier to feel confident of that if its proponents did not keep trying to sell it to us on the basis of a false prospectus.
Commercial Property: Knight Frank's annual report, quoted in the Scotsman on 30th Jan, says that demand for office space in Aberdeen continues to outstrip supply. Buildings that have been empty for years are now attracting interest for office development purposes. Commercial developers now have the edge over residential developers when a site with potential comes on the market. This was not the case even a year ago in the West End of Aberdeen, and is still not the case in Edinburgh or Glasgow. Because of sustained high demand for good-quality offices and a lack of significant development opportunities in 2006, there is no Grade A accomodation of more than 10,000 sq ft available in Aberdeen city centre. Although there are a number of buildings close to the harbour area with space available, their specification often fails to meet modern requirements and car parking is inadequate. Tenants regard a car parking ratio of 1:750 sq ft as the minimum acceptable. The largest city centre development currently ongoing is SMG's Union Plaza scheme, due for completion in late 2007, which will offer 125,000 sq ft of Grade A office space in the Union Row area. Rents are forecast to reach £23.50 per sq ft by the end of 2007. But, given the limited number of sites available within the city centre, developers are now focussing on the construction of new pavilion offices in more peripheral, traditionally industrial, locations.
Retail Trends: the Economist, 18th Jan, notes the the decline of High Street book and music retailers. Supermarkets are now thought to account for 25% of all recorded music sales. Most stock no more than the 100 best-sellers, but these account for 1/3rd of total album sales nationwide. Internet retailers like Amazon have doubled their share of the market to 11% in the last five years. The Scotsman, 7th Jan, reports that Britain is 'over-shopped', with more than 20 million sq. feet of new retail space being created over the next two years, just as many big stores are seeing shoppers desert the High Street for internet suppliers. New retail complexes are experiencing difficulty finding tenants as the market peaks out. Stores at the top end of the market, like John Lewis, Debenham and M&S, are performing better than those at the bottom end. And, significantly, retailers with good on-line services are doing well. But Woolworths, W H Smith and HMV are struggling. HMV owns the Waterstone bookstore chain and recently bought over Ottakar's. It has many expensive prime-site locations and is particularly exposed to current trends. Music and book stores have traditionally occupied a large proportion of High Street premises and have provided much of the point and attraction of going downtown, for books, magazines and records simply unavailable anywhere else, but also for a certain kind of ambience and cultural experience. If the book and music stores fade off the High Street, what exactly will we be left with?
No. 52 Castle St/Marischal St, the Old Blackfriars pub: application for fitting of retractable awnings to Castle St frontage, to create a canopy, possibly to shelter smokers.
No. 21 Market St: alterations to bar to create restaurant in this very distinguished building, but no problem.
Nos. 14-20 John St, the former St George's-in-the-West Church: application for change-of-use to a health studio. The use of plastic profile roofing is not appropriate on this distinguished First Pointed or Early English building, unfortunately neither Listed nor in a Conservation Area.
Blackfriars Building, RGU Schoolhill: application for alterations and new windows. This is the stretch of curtain walling north of the Cowdray hall on Blackfriars St. No worse, we suppose, than what we have at present!
No. 571 Great Western Road, the former Mannofield petrol station: change of approval to non-food retail; permission given for an office, a change for the better.
No. 27 Thistle St/No. 2a Windsor Place: proposal for demolition of store and erection of flats. The use of timber linings is inappropriate in a Conservation Area, and no car parking provision.
No. 43 Thistle Lane: proposal for a flatted development of 8 units, replacing a corrugated iron former joiner's workshop. The use of timber and flattish monopitch roofs would be even less attractive than the workshop!
Rosewell House, King's Gate: application for a 60-bed care home, to replace the present care home; two-storey, slated, not bad.
No. 199 Westburn Rd: application for change-of-use of the Trophy Centre shop from commercial to residential, to create two tiny flats.
Dancing Cairns: application for an 'affordable' housing development of 44 flats; a 4-storey block with coloured panels and monopitch roofs.
Brig o' Dee: bottleneck, congestion, such that visitors from the south might question whether the City of Aberdeen is serious about being 'open for business', or just having a laugh. We need a new bridge, built adjacent but westwards (upriver) of the present Ancient Monument. This need not much affect our favorite views of the old Brig, which are mostly of its east (downriver) side, as seen from Riverside Drive. But ultimately this is a main arterial road, and has to function as such. Traffic could enter Aberdeen from the south by the old Brig and exit by the new bridge, or vice-versa. Or, better still, the new bridge could be each-way and the old Brig made pedestrian-only. The Boots building would have to be sacrificed; but who would miss it? More generally, the two river crossings and the Haudagain roundabout are issues of far greater urgency and importance for Aberdeen City than is that of the Western Peripheral Road, which is now on track to cost nearly as much as the Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood.
Union Street: we need to be aware of present realities of competition and consumer choice. Fifty years ago, Union St had the retail game to itself; it had a virtual monopoly on the shopping experience in Aberdeen. Union St was where the shops were, and that was where people had to go. More people lived in or near the city centre, and they got around by foot or on buses and trams, all of which went through Union St. Nowadays there is greatly increased competition from edge-of-town and out-of-town centres, from other cities like Dundee, Inverness, Edinburgh & Glasgow - much more accessible than they used to be - and from Internet retailers. Customers have much more choice than formerly about where they spend their money. Union St will thrive only to the extent that, all things considered, it provides a service and overall experience at least comparable with the best that is available elsewhere. The whys and wherefores do not come into it. It is true that people do not only come into the city centre to shop; but shopping is a large part of it, and people are arguably more harmlessly occupied, and are less likely to be a nuisance to others, whilst shopping than, say, whilst getting drunk, scoring drugs etc. There is a tendency at official levels to imagine that the existence of a 'policy' or 'strategy' is by itself an acceptable substitute for real improvement in the actualite as observable on the street. For example, we are told that there is a 'strategy' in relation to the problem of aggressive and obstructive begging; but the problem seems to be as much in evidence as ever.
Policing is not, of course simply a matter for the Police, who are, as is well-known, under-financed and under-manned. A relevant adage: healthy communities are virtually self-policing; unhealthy communities are virtually unpoliceable.
Recent shopping trips to Aberdeen city centre and also to the Garthdee retail complex suggest that basic council and governmental functions and responsibilities - the maintenance of law & order, dealing with anti-social behaviour, maintaining the general environment and amenity, cleaning, tidying etc - are being delivered more effectively by the various private operators at Garthdee than by the relevant public service agencies downtown. There is no doubt that the city centre has special problems, e.g., the concentration of bars, clubs and fast-food outlets, although this is itself the outcome of various policy decisions. But the inescapable fact is that criminal and anti-social behaviour, aggressive begging, litter and detritus, are dealt with swiftly and effectively in the edge-of-town retail complexes in a way that just isn't seen in the city centre. Even minor (and very rare) disturbances in, say, the Asda or Sainsbury superstores, result in an immediate and large-scale policing/security response, with staff homing in from all directions. By contrast, all-too frequent disturbances and blatant law-breaking in Union St and the city centre often meet with no policing/security response at all, mainly because the relevant personnel are not there on the spot. And in consequence, we shoppers gravitate to edge-of-town and out-of-town centres, not because we particularly like them, but because we less and less like what we see and experience in our city centre.
A Dreadful Warning From The USA - see our page Comment & Opinion 2.
We seem to be hearing quite a lot about the chimera of "affordable housing" just now. The only way to make housing "affordable", i.e., cheaper, is to increase the supply of it relative to the demand. The price of housing is underpinned by the price of land, so cheaper housing would require that (a) more land be made available for housebuilding purposes, and in places where people actually want to live, can find jobs etc; and/or that (b) existing residental sites be utilised more efficiently, eg, by high-density rather than low-density developments. But opening up new areas of land for residential purposes may be at the expense of the Green Belt and open countryside. The advent of the Western Peripheral Road will bring expanses of relatively cheap land and housing within commuting distance/time of Aberdeen, eg, to the north of the city and up the Buchan coast. Otherwise, the supply of housing can be increased by conversion of existing industrial/commercial buildings and sites for residential purposes, eg, the Broadford Works, the Triple Kirks, the many large and empty buildings in Union St and Bridge St, Kepplestone and the former College of Education at Hilton. Existing residential land may be utilised more effectively, as by replacing older low-density usages, eg, single detached properties on large plots, with new higher-density developments, eg, apartment blocks, 'town' houses and terraces. Beyond all this, we are perhaps in error in imagining that everybody has to be an owner-occupier, which was never the case in the past and is not now the case in comparable countries. "Affordable" housing, for the lower 25-30% of income-earners, may always have to be rentable housing, whether supplied by councils, housing associations and trusts or private landlords.
FirstBus have decided to keep their bus depot at King St and to base their 'global HQ' there, rather than look elsewhere. Hammerson plc have now started work on their 'Union Square' retail development at Guild St.
On Age Discrimination: ACC's plans for our city centre almost seem designed to exclude those of us who don't want to have to walk too far, especially when weighed down with shopping: to generalise, the over-sixties, the bus-pass generation. This may be a serious error, even in cold commercial terms, given that the population of Aberdeen is both shrinking and ageing, as young families depart the city for its satellite towns and rural hinterland.
Read our article on Union Street in the November issue of Leopard magazine, or on their website at: www.leopardmag.co.uk.
On a related theme: the assumption has tended to be that the cluster of up-market stores, M&S, John Lewis, Debenhams etc, in the 'retail heart' of the city is of such compelling attractiveness that people will travel any distance, surmount any obstacle and bear any expense in order to shop there. There is no doubt that this cluster of big-name stores is crucial to a city-centre's success; the importance of propinquity, of nearness and proximity, of achieving a certain critical mass of top retailers and other attractions and amenities. But some of that critical mass has been dissipated in recent years by the proliferation of edge-of-town and out-of-town centres and complexes, and now there is the prospect of some 60 new retail premises at 'Union Square', off Guild St, which will abstract investment and custom from the traditional 'retail heart' of Aberdeen, without - we surmise - ever itself really taking off.
On Linkages: it must be at least five years since the issue of the 'linkages', lack of, between the projected 'Union Square' development and our historic city centre was first flagged up. There has been absolutely no sign that thinking on this matter has progressed since. The fact is that Union St eastwards of Union Bridge is a flyover, some 20-50' above the natural ground level, which descends from St Nicholas Kirk to the harbour. The projected 'Union Square', on the south side of Guild St, is a long way downhill of the traditional retail heart of the city. To access or return to the city centre, shoppers in 'Union Square' will have a choice of routes: Bridge St, the Green and thence the Back Wynd stairs, Correction Wynd or Carnegie's Brae, or Market St - all of them involving a long, steep uphill gradient, and all of them pretty unenticing, one way or another. Probably for this reason, there never has been any retail activity of significance southwards of Union St, except for the market on the Green. The 'retail heart' of the city evolved along Union St and St Nicholas-George St, and it is this cluster of big-name stores which serves to justify the time, trouble and expense of coming into the city centre, as against going to edge-of-town complexes. The 'Union Square' project is a distraction and an irrelevance. The epicentre of retail activity in Aberdeen will continue to be northwards, rather than southwards, of Union St. The big empty site off Guild St should be used for a new bus depot and transport interchange or 'hub', linking the harbour and the bus and railway stations and offering a direct rail link to Dyce airport.
Nos. 164-166 Market St: proposal for change-of-use of former bank building to 17 student flats. No detriment to the good Victorian facade.
Nos. 24-28 Schoolhill: Hill's, Turf Accountants; application re new shop front, appears to be a net improvement.
No. 14 Queen's Rd: proposal for a new single-storey building to the rear, for a dental practice. We have concerns about the inadequate pedestrian access here and the increase in traffic on a back lane without proper footpaths.
No. 515 Holburn St: the former petrol station, opposite the Abergeldie Bar. Proposal to erect a 3-storey plus attic block of 15 flats, smooth render finish and granite gable features, looking towards the pedestrian bridge. Should be an improvement!
No. 21 North Anderson Drive: application re a new Fire Station, proposed to be to the north of the existing fire station. Our only concern is: what use is proposed for the existing building?
Bieldside Lodge: proposal for a new house. Vehicular access to the North Deeside Rd is unsatisfactory. There would be an adverse effect on the amenity of Bieldside House and the area surrounding the old Deeside railway line.
Baylissburn House, Dalmunzie Rd, Bieldside: proposal for a new house and garden, in the middle of several very large feus; would be detrimental to the amenity of the area and may intrude into the Green Belt.
The Continental Market returns to Aberdeen on Friday 24th Nov, when it will be located in the Castlegate, moving to the mid-section of Union St for the Saturday & Sunday. The Market is a welcome and popular event, which adds greatly to the ambience of the city centre. The problem is that the last weekend in November is bound to be a busy one, with all the Xmas shoppers. Continental Market or not, people still have to get around and through the town for all the usual purposes - shopping, meeting friends, visiting relations. And every time the mid-section of Union St is closed off to buses and other traffic, gridlock and chaos result, extending to the whole surrounding area, as surely as night follows day. We like the Market, but we don't like the gridlock and chaos. But no such problem arises when the Market is located in the Castlegate, as it will be on Friday 24th. The Castlegate needs the business, and the Market gives us a reason and incentive to visit this interesting and historic part of our city. Why not locate the Market there from Friday through to Sunday? It's a no-brainer, really!
St Nicholas Kirk: interesting & informative website re history, archaeology etc at www.kirk-of-st-nicholas.org.uk
Our Public Debate on Wed 1st November, on Pedestrianisation of Union Street - The Options; for a full report, see our page 'Union Street & City Centre'.
On the above; we understand that a Report submitted to, and accepted by, ACC in 2004 recommended that Union Terrace, Schoolhill/Upperkirkgate, Broad St, Market St, Guild St and Bridge St should become bus-only routes. The effect would be that cars, vans and lorries would be permanently excluded from all three of the present east-west routes through Aberdeen, being Union St, Schoolhill/Upperkirkgate and Guild St. The position with taxis and public service vehicles is uncertain. Various issues arise: where are motorists to park in order to access the city centre, how do the elderly & less-mobile access shops & amenities, how are deliveries to be made to shops? Pedestrianisation is supposed to be in place by 2010, barely four years from now, and there has been extraordinarily little discussion of these issues.
Carnegie Court Hall, Don St, Old Aberdeen: application for demolition of the former Hillhead Hall of Residence and erection of a huge quadrangle of 540 student flats and communal facilities, in 4-storey blocks of sandstone and smooth render and flattish monopitch roofs, with much planting of trees, shrubs etc on site. A boring, basic sort of building! The appearance would be improved if the design were altered to incorporate pitched roofs with quasi/part dormers at third floor level.
Nos. 86-92 Auchmill Rd, Bucksburn: proposal to demolish the Auchmill Inn and erect 20 flats. This is a big development, with parking, but it fits in well enough with the surrounding area.
No. 17 Gladstone Place: application re window replacement. This is a town house converted to two flats, with the usual unsympathetic divided front door. New windows are proposed, of UPVC(!) with an "antique oak pvcu door". No way!
No. 1 Trinity Quay: application for change-of-use and creation of 20 residential flats; OK. Desirable to expand the resident population thereabouts.
Nos 96-126 John St: proposal for change-of-use and development of 50 flats. This proposal takes in the site of the former snooker hall and the tenement block right up to the side of Lumsden's. While the Society welcomes the removal of the unsightly former snooker hall, we cannot support the removal of the tenement block, which is a handsome, well-proportioned and finely-detailed example of its genre, forming one side of a quasi-square with the RGU buildings to the east and the Kelly wing of the Old Infirmary to the west. An attempt should be made to incorporate the tenement facade in place of the banal frontage presently suggested.
No. 10 Golden Square: replacement windows, timber and in the appropriate 12-paned style - excellent!
No. 2 Fountainhall Rd: application for change-of-use from residential to offices with car park. This property was part of a delightful group of Victorian residential villas, now, it seems, wholly given over to commercial purposes.
No. 40 Queen's Rd: proposal for change-of-use from residential to office, and extension. This is the first house past Spademill Lane. The proposed extension is over-large and does not accord with the B-Listed property which it would adjoin in style, proportions or materials.
No. 11 Queen's Gardens: application for change-of-use of the basement and 1st & 2nd floor flats to offices; no objection provided the front elevation is unchanged.
No. 10 Rosehill Drive: application for erection of a one-and-a-half storey house. The Cairncry Rd/Rosehill Dr/Hilton Dr housing development is a well-ordered Bisset scheme. This proposal would introduce an element alien to the homogeneous layout of the area, to the detriment of neighbouring houses and the surrounding area.
Cairn Rd, Peterculter: an outline proposal for three detached houses. The site is only just about adequate, being squeezed in between the road and the tennis court & bowling green.
Former Dunbar Hall of Residence, Old Aberdeen: ACC had rejected the proposal for 105 student flats, resembling a barracks, adjacent to St Machar Cathedral and the Chanonry. The developer appealed to the Scottish Executive, which has approved the proposal, in complete contradiction of local opinion and democratic processes.
No. 25 Stafford St: proposal to erect a block of eight new flats. It is essential that the front elevations are in character with the adjoining blocks in this traditional Aberdeen tenement street.
No. 47 Belmont St: proposal for extension and alterations to create a licensed restaurant. We hope the charming Doric entablature surrounding the doors will be retained, and that any canopy corresponds to it.
Beechgrove Church (as was): proposal to replace the small stained glass windows in the side aisles; these to be relocated in Midstocket Church (formerly St Ninian's), where we consider they could be accomodated without damage to the general ambience of this outstanding Kelly building.
North Sea Oil & Gas: The Sunday Herald of 13th August reports that investment in exploration and appraisal during 2006-7 is expected to reach its highest level since the 1980s, with companies planning to drill 112 new wells. There are now more than 140 companies operating in the North Sea, compared with just 80 in 2003. This rush is propelled by expectations of continued high oil prices, impending shortages of gas and the Govt's push to bring new operators into the North Sea.
Broadford Works, Maberly St: formerly the Richards textiles factory; revival of 2004 proposal (amended) to create an urban village to comprise 398 flats, shops, office accomodation, restaurants, a pub and 501 parking spaces. The site, of 8.5 acres, is bounded by Maberly St, Ann St, Hutcheon St and George St, and is A-Listed on account of its two main buildings, the Grey Mill dating from 1750 and the Red Mill.
Tartan Day, Saturday 5th August: mid-section of Union St closed to traffic. Took a full hour, from 3-4 pm, to travel by bus from the Castlegate to Bridge of Dee. Market St, Guild St and Bridge St completely seized up.
No. 122 Union St: former Motherwear store, now empty and vandalised. Application to convert to an amusement arcade and tanning salon was refused by ACC as inappropriate to Union St, but has been granted on appeal to the Scottish Executive. ACC are considering a legal challenge.
Union Square, Guild St: The property developer Hammerson plc has increased its stakeholding from 50% to 100%, having bought out Multiplex UK. Hammerson is thus the sole owner and now has full control of the development.
Union Street: What Went Wrong? See our page Union Street & City Centre.
No. 32 Castle St, the bar at the corner with Castle Terrace: application for retractable awnings of the traditional type; OK.
Nos. 160-2 Union St: proposal for alterations and change-of-use to the ground floor of the former Palace Restaurant to form a coffee house; OK.
Nos. 13-14 Adelphi: proposal for alterations to create nine flats. This adds a full storey and another with dormers to an existing two-storey building, but not out of character.
No. 52 Regent Quay: application to replace timber windows at rear with upvc. This is not a Listed building, but Historic Scotland would advise against.
Nos. 230-240 George St: proposal for alterations to the rather grandiose former bank premises at the corner with John St to form a dental centre; no change to the exterior.
No. 3 Golden Square: application for change-of-use from the existing bar/restaurant to 4 flats; well thought-out.
No. 21 Bon Accord St, the Paramount Bar: proposal for a new shop frontage within the existing stone framework.
No. 2 Albyn Place: application re. replacement windows, timber sash and case, good!
No. 22 Waverley Place, the former Prince Regent Hotel: an amendment to the existing proposal so as to provide dormers to allow additional floor space. We objected to the original proposal as an over-development of a distinguished Listed property in a Conservation Area. The proposed amendment constitutes an undesirable increase in that respect.
No. 11 Queen's Gardens: proposal for change-of-use of flats to offices, no external change.
Rubislaw Sports Pavilion: proposal for refurbishment. Demolition of the existing extension at the west end of the (sort of) classical original will involve removal of existing dormers and a long new extension to the west.
No. 4 King's Gate, Ashley House: application for an extension, matching the granite gable; good!
No. 33 Seafield Crescent: application for house extension. In this case, the proposed extension, though quite large, does not wreck the ambience of the entire scheme.
No. 42 Rose House, Hazlehead: application for replacement windows. The drawings give no indication of the elevational treatment. The new windows must have divisions similar to the existing fenestration in order to maintain the unity of appearance of this monolithic block.
No. 41 Nelson St: proposal for demolition of building and erection of 21 flats at the corner of Nelson St and the railway line. Four storeys, of good proportions, with slate roof, walls granite and mostly white render; but some sections are to be of 'rust' render, i.e., orange-brown - this colour is alien to the Aberdeen area and and should be reconsidered.
Nos. 197-9 King St: application for conversion of shops to a flat; retains shop fenestration, OK.
South View, Persley: application for change-of-use from haulage yard to a housing development in the small cul-de-sac opposite the granite tenements on Grandholme Rd; OK by us if it is consistent with the Development Plan.
Castlegate: proposal by Grampian Housing Association and NHS Grampian to build a drug abusers' clinic/treatment centre, with 53 low-rent flats to be built on top, on the present Justice St or Timmer Market Car Park and at the expense of about 70 car parking spaces. The Justice St Car Park is fully used at present and brings much-needed visitors, customers etc into the Castlegate, even if many will be en route to somewhere else. This proposal would seem to be in contradiction of ACC's long-standing policy of regeneration of the historic Castlegate. There seems to be at official levels a failure to grasp the essential fragility of the Castlegate and some other parts of central Aberdeen as functioning micro-economies and communities; specifically the issue of just how much more negativity and excess baggage they can cope with. The Castlegate is in need of a more positive, up-market image if it is to attract in business, investment and customers. There are other, less damaging possible locations for a drugs treatment centre; Aberdeen's hospital complex at Foresterhill comes to mind, given that drug-abusers will often have an array of health problems, physical and mental. As regards the 53 low-rent flats, we might wonder who (apart from drug dealers) will want to occupy flats built above a drugs treatment centre. There is no shortage of low-rent flats in the nearby Castlehill blocks. What the Castlegate needs is more high-rent accomodation, such as would be indicative of its desirability as a place in which to live; not more of the same. Check website: www.savethecastlegatecarpark.co.uk.
Nos. 143-153 Union St, formerly Littlewoods: proposal for new shop front; no great change, also signage and banner.
No. 17 Market St: proposal for change-of-use to 20 flats. The application includes the former Bon Accord Hotel and involves sub-division of the huge front room on the first floor, i.e., cutting it into slices. We are of the opinion that this propoposal amounts to an unsympathetic conversion of an important Listed building, designed by Archibald Simpson in 1845 for the Mechanics' Institute.
Nos. 45-47 Holland St: proposal for demolition of the existing buildings and erection of 25 flats.
No. 84 Crown St: application for change-of-use from present bedsits to 4 new flats; no external alterations.
No. 13 Dee Place: proposal for change-of-use to an office, with 16 parking spaces. This building is the former Seventh Day Adventist manse; care should be taken to preserve important interior features.
No. 1 Belmont St: proposal by Cafe Drummond for a new terrace on the side facing over to the gardens above Denburn Rd; a good idea in principle, but what is presently proposed is not really attractive. A more elegant design, taking cognisance of the particular quality of these late-18th century buildings, might be acceptable. There is a strong case for preserving essentially unchanged the entire rear aspect of Belmont St, as viewed from Union Bridge, Union Terrace and the Gardens.
No. 5 Belmont St: (revival of) proposal for demolition of vacant warehouse and erection of a public house &/or restaurant/diner. As before, the proposal includes an aluminium-clad wall facing Patagonian Court, which is no more acceptable this time than last.
Robert Gordon University Garthdee Campus: proposal for new admin building south of Garthdee House, the character of which was destroyed back in the 1960s.
Justice Mill Lane/Hardgate: proposal by AWG Property Ltd for a 148-bedroom hotel of 9 storeys on the former Satrosphere site at the corner of JML and Hardgate; also a 7 storey block of 125 flats and some shops & offices, with an underground car park, 210 spaces. It does look like a very large building for this site, but will probably improve the ambience of JML rather than otherwise.
Pedestrianisation of Union St: we are planning a Public Meeting (speakers for & against, debate etc) at St Margaret's School Hall, Albyn Place, on Wednesday 1st November at 7.30 pm. Details to be finalised.
Union St/Union Row: former Waterstone's and Norema; these very large premises have been empty for years. All windows are in a filthy state, also doorway, plus the doorway to the adjacent Clydesdale Bank. We are bound to wonder just who would want to start a business, or open a shop, in such surroundings. This large & ugly, and now substantially redundant, building replaced Tommy Scott Sutherland's art deco 'Majestic' cinema (and an elegant neo-Renaissance bank) back in the 1970s, rightly remembered as The Decade Taste Forgot.
Nos. 73-103 Union St/Nos. 2-6 Market St, the Aberdeen Market: proposal for alterations to buildings. This amounts to a complete rehash of the Aberdeen Market and BHS buildings and facades. Some parts are acceptable, e.g., the reinstatement of the arches between Burtons and the Market facades on Market St. The elevations to Hadden St and the Green are to be 'enlivened' with new windows, but we must not lose the 'granite cliff' aspect, a reference to Archbald Simpson's splendid New Market of 1840-42, which was demolished and replaced in 1971 by what amounted to an extension of British Home Stores, with the Market confined to the two lower floors. The BHS facade to Union St of 1971 was and remains out-of-keeping. Unfortunately, the current proposal is similarly alien to the character of Union St, and must be refused.
No. 140 Union St/No. 3 Belmont St: application by Jamieson & Carry to renew roof coverings, reinstate missing chimney pots and undertake stone cleaning and pointing as advised by RGU; to be commended.
Union Row: a revised proposal from Stewart Milne for a major office development. Somewhat better than the original proposal, now being of 5-6 storeys; shouldn't affect the houses in Summer St so much.
Nos. 60-62 Marischal St: application re dormer extension, window renewal and pointing. This is the fine (Listed) house at the foot of the west side of the street, having a fine doorway with pilasters and an elegant curved end on to the quayside. There are already large Victorian dormer windows on the street side, with a clumsy later link between them. The proposal involves the addition of a flat-roofed dormer of lesser height going around the corner of the building. This must be resisted at all costs. Our submission: "The proposed dormer would be detrimental to this important Listed building and to the amenity of Marischal St and the surrounding Conservation Area". There is, as it happens, no Community Council for this area, so it is important that voluntary groups such as the Civic Society take up these issues.
Princewall House, Huntly St, the former Blind Asylum: application re internal alterations. The drawings do not show adequately which aspects of the John Smith interior would be affected/destroyed by the proposal to create an open-plan office. Care should be taken to preserve features such as cornices and friezes.
Kepplestone House: similar issues to Princewall House, above, arising from its impending conversion into flats; the building is not Listed, but the interior contains much fine woodwork, which should be preserved intact wherever possible.
No. 2 Albyn Place: proposal to fill the rear garden area with a single-storey office extension. The proposed building has a sheet metal roof and would link the garage and the Listed former house, both of which have slate roofs and are, of course, in a Conservation Area. This proposal is completely unacceptable.
Woodside: proposal by FirstGroup for an HQ office and depot for 230 buses. This development has generated widespread concern, but the drawings show a building of some distinction, resembling RGU's at Garthdee.
No. 10 Rosehill Drive: proposal for a new dwelling-house. The property, though it would have a separate access point to Hayfield Place, would spoil the layout of this scheme, which was an important part of Aberdeen's residential development during the inter-war period.
No. 33 King St: Aberdeen Arts Centre have applied to Historic Scotland for assistance with the long-overdue restoration of their premises, being the splendid and prominently-situated former North Church of 1830, in Neo-Classical style by John Smith, the City Architect of Aberdeen.
An encouraging development at Wardhouse, Kennethmont. Wardhouse is an A-Listed C.18th mansion in the Palladian style, designed by John Adam for the Gordon family in the heart of Aberdeenshire. But it has been a gutted, roofless ruin for many years, a 'Building At Risk', to put it mildly. However, Acanthus Architects Douglas Forrest now have planning consent to restore the house as 7 dwellings and for the creation of a further 4 dwellings in other existing buildings on the site. Five new buildings are to be erected in woodland surrounding the house, to help finance the project. See article 'Buildings At Risk 2006' on our page Comment & Opinion 3.
Aberdeen's Continental Market on the weekend of 6/7th May was the biggest and most successful ever, partly, no doubt, because of bright, sunny weather. But the associated closure to traffic of the mid-section of Union St resulted in gridlock and chaos in Bridge St, Market St and Guild St and the whole surrounding area. No such problems accompanied November's Continental Market, which was held in the city's historic market-place of the Castlegate. Why not hold it there in future? And food for thought as regards the implications of the projected permanent closure to vehicular traffic of the mid-section of Union St from 2010.
Union St Pedestrianisation And The Bon Accord Quarter: our Society has often asked just how the 'Masterplan' for the proposed Bon Accord Quarter (which incorporates pedestrianisation of Broad St, Upperkirkgate and Schoolhill eastwards of Back Wynd) can possibly be compatible with ACC's vote in 2004 to ban all vehicular traffic from the mid-section of Union St from 2010. Mr Frank Sutherland, manager of both the St Nicholas and Bon Accord shopping centres, is quoted in the Evening Express of 29th April as follows: "We have objected to the pedestrianisation of Union St ... we believe the pavements should be widened, but buses should still be given access. To take all the traffic off (Union St) and re-route it will put pressure on other areas like Schoolhill and Upperkirkgate ... (it) would see 58 buses per hour on Schooolhill/Upperkirkgate". It's make your mind up time! We have to decide which is best for Aberdeen - pedestrianisation of the mid-section of Union St OR a revitalised 'retail heart', being the Bon Accord Quarter as per the Masterplan. We can't do both! See our page Comment & Opinion 1.
Further to the above: at our Meeting of 26th April, our guest speaker, an ACC spokesperson, was asked just where on Schoolhill/Upperkirkgate one would get off the bus to go to, for the sake of argument, Marks & Spencers. The answer, reasonably enough, was to the rear of St Nicholas Kirkyard. The distance from there to M&S is about the same as from the present bus stops in Union St to M&S. But how many people will then walk from M&S into the pedestrianised mid-section of Union St, and what will they find when they get there? Anything? Nothing?
The question was then asked as to where buses would go from the top of Upperkirkgate. Under the 'Masterplan', Broad St is to be pedestrianised. So buses would have to turn left, and travel up Gallowgate to Mounthooly. It was pointed out that buses already turn down Littlejohn St (short, narrow & steep), but it is not feasible for the envisaged number of buses to make a right turn from Gallowgate down Littlejohn St and then another right turn across the dual carriageway of West North St, from there presumably travelling into town via King St. Yet the only alternative is for buses to turn left at West North St and travel out to Mounthooly, and then where?
The Western Peripheral Road: a benefit to Aberdeenshire, an irrelevance (at best) to the long-standing traffic problems of Aberdeen City. See our page Comment & Opinion 3.
No. 28 Cairnaquheen Gardens: application for a grage and dormer, the latter being an upstairs bedroom extension. We have no objection to the garage, but the proposed dormer adds a full gable to one of these MacMillan houses. Although this house is not Listed, nor quite in a Conservation Area, these Northern Garden Suburb schemes, like the contemporary Bisset schemes, have a considerable degree of good town planning in their form and layout. We feel that the proposed addition to No. 28, being as it is in a development where all the houses have piended ('hipped') gable ends, would detract from the character of the whole street.
Balmedie: proposal by Donald Trump for a golf-based development on the Menie estate, to include two championship golf courses, a golf academy, a five-star hotel and holiday apartments. This would bring a useful amount of investment into the area, would create employment during the construction phase and thereafter, and would put Aberdeen on the international golfing map. It would help diversify the local economy away from its present over-dependence on oil. But two EU Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) could be affected, being Foveran Links and the Sands of Forvie and Ythan Estuary.
ACC's draft Local Plan proposes the release of 'huge swathes' of Green Belt land for housebuilding purposes from 2015. Some 6,000 houses are proposed on sites at the Bridge of Don, Kingswells, Countesswells and Cults. However: planning law states that the Local Plan has to conform to the approved Structure Plan, 'North East Scotland Together', which is in force until 2015. The draft Local Plan would therefore seem to be out of order in making proposals beyond the term of the present Structure Plan.
Berryden/Rosemount: ACC has again rejected the plan for extensive (and destructive) road redevelopment around the Berryden/Hutcheon St junction. But recent proposals suggest that traffic, including some 20 buses per hour, may now be diverted along Mount St and then leftwards down Rosemount Place, past Skene Square School. This would necessitate a loss of parking space and (probable) narrowing of pavements. See our page Planning Matters 4.
Winram's Bookshop, Rosemount Place, is to close June/July and the business will move to a converted barn near Banchory. This follows the closure of Bon Accord Books on the Spital. Most of the books trade is now undertaken via the Internet, and both premises are to be adapted for residential use, i.e., flats.
North Sea Oil: The Economist of 16th March points out that Britain's part of the North Sea is well past its prime. Oil & gas production peaked out at 4.5 million barrels a day in 1999 and has fallen steadily ever since, to 3.3 mn now. However, a combination of high oil prices and government policy has made it profitable to keep working in what is an increasingly difficult and expensive place to drill for oil and gas. Investment has risen by 30% this year and more exploration and appraisal wells are being drilled than at any time since 1997. By 2007, production should be higher than in 2005.
Inverness: an interesting article in the Sunday Herald of 19th March, titled "The Town That Was Eaten By Tesco". An excerpt: "Inverness, sitting on the axis of an economic golden triangle of the Moray Firth, is the fastest growing urban area in Europe. In 2001, just after it celebrated its new city status, the population was 51,000, and that is expected to double in 30 years. In the past decade the city has spread rapidly eastwards, across rolling farmland to Culloden moor, and is now encroaching steadily on the fringes of the airport, nine miles out of the town. Somewhere there must be a vision for a new city; but the reality is a seemingly never-ending suburbia, a planning template that seems to have been borrowed from Melbourne, Australia."
Pedestrianisation: An Alternative Route; see our page Comment & Opinion 1.
Union Square: the Guild St retail development was projected to be completed and open for business by Easter 2006. Here we are, at Easter 2006, and not a brick has been laid. The London-based property developer Hammerson PLC have now taken over the project from Multiplex UK.
A new report by Prof. Michael Parkinson, "State of the English Cities", maintains that the key to the economic success of the top-performing cities of England is to have a university and an airport. Places without universities, like Cornwall and Cumbria, are struggling economically and suffering population decline. But those towns & cities with proportionally most graduates in their populations were doing much better, e.g., London, Oxford, Cambridge, Reading, Bristol, Manchester and Derby. "Attracting & retaining graduates matters", says Prof. Parkinson. "Connectivity - good transport links - is also vital, and an airport can be important for economic success".
The Western Peripheral Road and Population Trends - see extended treatment on our page Comment & Opinion 3.
No. 868-70 Great Northern Rd: proposal for demolition of the one-time Fiat garage and the derelict "Colwyn" cottage at the corner of Great Northern Rd and Mugiemoss Rd, and development of the combined site to create a retail showroom, warehouse, office etc. This large and prominent site is an eyesore and embarrassment of long standing, but we feel that no development should be allowed here until the possibility of improvements to the adjacent Haudagain roundabout has been explored. This area of land would be required if any improved form of junction were to be implemented. The area already suffers from serious traffic congestion. The access arrangements for the current proposal are unsatisfactory, and would only add to the present congestion.
No. 9 Marine Terrace: application to replace skylight and dormer windows, in exactly the style of those existing, and renovation of roof.
No. 505 Great Western Rd: application for extension of bay windows, which should add interest to this not very exciting frontage.
Eleven cylindrical pillars, not unlike tall pillar boxes, 3.4 metres high, 1 metre in diameter, to be used for advertising purposes, are to be dotted about the city-centre and will add to the clutter of unnecessary and obstructive 'street furniture' described by Diane Morgan in our March Newsletter.
Danestone/Tillydrone - 3rd Don Crossing: this is yet another short-term, ill-considered scheme - a road running from the junction with St Machar Drive along Tillydrone Rd/Gordon Mills Rd, crossing the Don and going by Danestone along the edge of the University playing fields to the Parkway. The traffic generated will be intrusive on many residential areas from Westburn/Hilton to Danestone and the edge of the Old Aberdeen Conservation Area. A longer-term perspective, taking account of the projected Western Peripheral Road - which will itself incorporate a new Don crossing - indicates that this scheme will involve high costs both in terms of taxpayers' money and residential amenity and should not be undertaken. A more useful scheme would be to improve the Great Northern Rd/North Anderson Drive (Haudagain) roundabout, perhaps to the extent of grade separation or diamond junction status.
No. 197 George St/St Andrew St; the Mega Bowl, the one-time City Cinema: proposal for the development of 58 flats, with 58 parking spaces, and two shops. The development will be built around a square, to be named St Andrew Square, of seven storeys in the central part and five storeys elsewhere. The elevation to St Andrew St is of brick, granite, zinc and timber laminate. This last is an elevational finish completely alien to Aberdeen and should be changed.
Nos 101/103 Union St: this is the building on the south-east side of the Correction Wynd Bridge, the former Princess Cafe: proposal is for a completely new interior, the exterior to be unchanged.
No. 18 Fonthill Rd: proposal to create an additional 'bay' dormer window at the rear and another such at the front, to replace the existing 'flat' sash windows. The dormers to the rear are fully acceptable, but, in this whole row, only one flat at the junction of Ferryhill Rd and Fonthill Rd has had dormers added to the original frontage, with aesthetically disastrous effects on the block itself and the remainder of the terrace. This should not be allowed to create a precedent. The Society would prefer to see no front dormers allowed on this stretch of Fonthill Rd.
Berryden and Kepplestone are presently matters of controversy. See below and also our page Planning Matters 4.
Millburn St: the reinstatement of the east elevation of the 'chateau' wing of the former electricity works has been reasonably well done, and in granite.
Airyhall House: proposal for conversion of the main Victorian building to 5 retirement flats, plus another 18 flats in a new-build extension, cement render & slate.
ACC has approved the first stage of the 'Masterplan' for the Bon Accord Quarter. The proposers, being the Scottish Retail Property Ltd Partnership, the proprietors of the St Nicholas and Bon Accord malls, want to extend the Bon Accord Centre by 44,500 sq. feet on the site bounded by Upperkirkgate, Gallowgate and St Paul Street, currently used as a servicing yard. This extension would link to the Bon Accord Centre on the first floor, while the car park (304 spaces) would link to the Loch St multi-storey car park. There is to be a new frontage on to the Gallowgate and internal alterations to the former Student Union building.
Kepplestone: the Society objected to the plans for the current residential development, which we compared to a 1960s Local Authority housing scheme. (See our page Planning Matters 4.) At the first public meeting, it was promised that there would be a landmark or feature building at the corner of Queens Rd/Anderson Drive. The building currently being put up certainly could not be so described, and the amenity of the area has been severely degraded.
Pinewood, Countesswells Rd: the Scottish Executive has refused ACC permission to sell off its portion of this Green Belt site, for which a residential development of 123 houses was planned.
No. 39 King's Crescent/No. 17 Spital: proposal to convert to flats the Aberdeen Diocesan offices at King's Crescent, along with all the Convent buildings except the Chapel. Care should be taken to preserve any notable internal features of the Category A wing of the Convent - the only completed part of the original Ninian Comper scheme.
No. 4 St Peter's Place: proposal for two residential units; a small development in a fairly tight site down the side of St Peter's Cemetery; quiet neighbours.
Stockethill Church: proposal for change-of-use to a cafe/gift shop.
No. 5a South Square, Footdee: replacement windows and doors, timber replacing aluminium; good.
Nos. 104-6 King St: application to remove roof and form balcony. This is part of the former Kingsway Cinema. The use of a timber parapet is inappropriate on this building and in this area. Wrought iron railings would be better.
No. 81 High St, Old Aberdeen: application re a new conservatory, more ornate than its predecessor - demolished some time ago - on this Category A house, but not out of keeping.
No. 54 Chapel St/ No. 43 Summer St: proposal for seven flats with parking. This is the gap site south of Little Chapel St on the east side of Chapel St. This proposal will complete the rehabilitation of this formerly somewhat down-at-heel part of Aberdeen.
Western Peripheral Route: the WPR, as now proposed, should have a significantly improving effect on the fortunes of the satellite towns and villages around Aberdeen, which will become much more accessible than at present; but possibly at the expense of the city itself. Aberdeen arguably needs its by-pass, given present bottlenecks at the Dee and Don bridges, but we need to be aware of possible unintended consequences. The long-standing trend for young middle-income families to move out of the city in search of better-value housing, higher-achieving schools and an arguably better lifestyle, is likely to be intensified and accelerated. The recent projection by the Registrar General for Scotland argues that the population of Aberdeen City will fall by about a quarter over the next 20 years, indicating that, by 2024, Aberdeen's population will be back down to what it was in the census year of 1901, i.e., about 155,000, compared with 203,450 now. The population of working age is expected to fall by 28% and the under-15 population by 43%. Aberdeenshire's population is expected to rise by about 8%, from the present 232,850 to 251,300 in 2024. The outward migration of population, in combination with easier access to Aberdeen itself, is likely to result in an increased volume of commuter traffic entering the city in the mornings and exiting in the late afternoon/evening, and increased demand for parking during the day. There will be pressure for new residential and other developments along the line of the WPR, especially where it intersects the main roads radiating outwards from the city. It will not be to Aberdeen's longer-term economic advantage if too many young middle-income families move out, leaving a shrinking population largely made up of the elderly, the less well-off and the childless. As it is, nearly all the new residential development in Aberdeen is of flats, because the price of building land in the city makes family-size houses unaffordably expensive. We cannot force people to live in the city. We will have to devise ways of maximising Aberdeen's attractions, amenity and appeal, such that the advantages of living in the city are perceived to outweigh the disadvantages. (More on this: see our page Comment & Opinion 3.)
Diane Morgan's book, 'Lost Aberdeen', is now available in the bookshops in its paperback edition, priced @ £9.99.
David Cameron MP and Slains Castle: see our page Round And About 2.
Albyn School: ACC has approved the proposal for an extension to the Primary School; this would be a very large extension, facing Forest Avenue, the full height of the existing house and filling the playground area. We believe that the proposed extension, by its siting, scale design and materials, would be detrimental to the present Listed building and to the open character and general amenity of the surrounding Conservation Area.
No. 2 Albyn Place: proposal for interior alterations and an extension to run along Victoria St; the elevational treatment facing Victoria St is not appropriate as an addition to a Listed building in a Conservation Area.
No. 5 Castle St: proposal for a pub garden and to reinstate a window at the rear to Lodge Walk; OK.
Nos. 18-27 Pittodrie Place: proposal for erection of 24 flats.
No. 25 Rose St: proposal for extension and other alterations to form 4 flats; this adds a storey to the house, over Colin Wood's antique shop.
No. 1 Manor Place/Nos. 1-3 Kirk Brae, Cults: proposal for a very large development of sheltered housing on the present site of just two houses, with only 10 parking places. Overdevelopment, i.e., cramming them in, and out of character with the surrounding area.
Our annual Awards Ceremony took place on Wednesday 16th November, in the Town & County Hall, Aberdeen Town House. See our Annual Awards page for the list of presentations!
Union Terrace Gardens, Fri. 4th Nov, noon, completely deserted. The Gardens will never be properly utilised until they become the obvious routeway of choice between other places of interest, e.g., between Union St and Belmont St. The Denburn By-Pass and railway line should be bridged over, to a greater or lesser extent, so as to provide the necessary linkages between the Gardens and the rear of Belmont St.
To the Castlegate, (November) for the Continental Market. The Castlegate is serving its obvious purpose, for the first time in ages. And the Market gives the Castlegate a much-needed boost. The Castlegate affords the best view of Aberdeen, westwards along Union St and along King St, but few of us ever see it, or not very often, because there is too seldom any compelling reason to spend time in the Castlegate. This is the obvious place for the Continental Market in future.
Bon-Accord Quarter: an interesting presentation of the 'Masterplan' on 27th Oct., by the architects and designers. They regard Schoolhill/Upperkirkgate as ideal for pedestrianisation, but would prefer to retain public transport access to the entire length of Union St, contrary to the impression put about elsewhere. (ACC's intentions re. alternative bus routes remain, as ever, a mystery. Either they simply have no idea where the buses are to go, or they have, but decline to share it with us.) Similarly, the Bon-Accord architects see no need for their proposed glass roof to be extended southwards over the 'public space' of St Nicholas St. But their plans for the proposed 'Civic Square', on the site presently occupied by St Nicholas House, depict a banal array of 4-7 storey blocks fronting on to Broad St and facing Marischal College, about which we might well have reservations!
Lang Stracht, Cocker's Roses site: a proposal for a development of 104 'affordable' housing units; contrary to provisions of the Local Plan, but should not be a source of problems.
Nos. 15 & 16 Union Terrace: proposal for alterations, to create 11 flats. The principal internal features of these impressive Georgian houses, being the staircases and the grand front rooms, appear to be conserved.
No. 31 King St, the 'Children's Theatre': proposal to strip and re-cover roofs and remove the front dormer windows; should be an overall improvement to this somewhat neglected John Smith house.
Berryden Rd/Hutcheon St junction - recent roads improvements consultation: our man attended, but walked out because no discussion of the real issues was allowed and no ACC official of appropriate status was present.
Benholm Kirk, Kincardine: the Kirk is now owned by the Scottish Redundant Churches Trust, following the public meeting at Benholm Mill on Saturday 15th Oct concerning the proposed sale of the Kirk building by the Church of Scotland and its then probable conversion to flats. Ownership by the Trust will secure the preservation of both the building and its contents. Benholm Kirk dates back to 1242, although the present (Listed) building is of the Victorian period, dating from 1872. It has recently been upgraded by Historic Scotland from Category B to Category A status. The building contains unique, enigmatic stone carvings, in particular, the Keith Monument of 1621, sandstone, 8 feet tall, which is covered with cryptic references to death, fertility, power and the Monarchy, which have so far defied full interpretation. The Monument was commissioned by George Keith, the 5th Earl Marischal, King James VI's Lord High Commissioner of Scotland and the founder of Marischal College. His younger brother, Sir Robert Keith of Benholm, built his town house, Benholm's Lodging, in the Netherkirkgate in Aberdeen in 1588, which later became erroneously known as the Wallace Tower and was removed in 1964 to Tillydrone.
Triple Kirks (update): Proposal for redevelopment of the site to provide 60 flats for Esson Properties per Canale Associates. The proposal involves clearance of the site, with the exception of the East Church, i.e., the Triple Kirks Restaurant, and demolition of the tower & spire. The proposed building rises seven storeys above street level, with three floors of car parking beneath, i.e., 66 parking spaces entered off Denburn Rd. It is a huge block, coming forward of the former building line towards the Viaduct in a shallow crescent form, ending in an asymmetrical 'dome' feature at the corner, dwarfing its neighbours and distracting from the War Memorial/Cowdray Hall building opposite. This proposal constitutes over-development of the site regarding the number of apartments to be provided and the site to be developed, dwarfing neighbouring buildings and providing an unsatisfactory end-point to one of Aberdeen's most successful areas of townscape. The removal of the Triple Kirks spire would rob Aberdeen city centre of an important feature of its skyline and of the vista from Union Bridge and other vantage points. It should not be beyond the ability of a developer and architect to devise a scheme reduced in ground cover but replicating the plan form and massing of the original - with possibly some extension in 'transept' form towards Blackfriars St - such as retains the tower and spire as an integrated element of the design. The proposal in its present form is unacceptable to the Society.
No. 78 Union St, the Royal Bank of Scotland: application re. new double-glazed steel window units. This is a renewal, carefully executed, of the metal windows of Jenkins & Marr's monumental bank at the corner with St Nicholas St.
No. 33 Exchange St: application for change of use to form a restaurant operated under a public house licence. This building was erected in the 1880s as the Catholic Apostolic Church, becoming Clapperton's Rooms when the church moved to Bon Accord Terrace in 1896. More recently, the building was used as a warehouse.
Nos. 19-21 Regent Quay: This is a pleasant granite property with no dormer windows at the moment. The proposal is to instal two large and ugly dormers with link; not in keeping with the fine proportions of this building and should be refused for this reason.
No. 1 Polmuir Road: application for kitchen extension and railings. This is the end house of the Simpson-type terrace. The proposed kitchen is behind the house, visible from Ferryhill Place; single-storey with lantern rooflight, granite chip dry-dash and slated roof.
Nos. 35-41 Spital: proposal for two new houses at rear; this development fronts Froghall Terrace and comprises two two-and-a-half storey town houses sited behind an existing boundary wall. Traditional design, white render and slate.
Nos. 281-287 King St: ACC has rejected the proposal for demolition of existing buildings and erection of a residential development of 40 flats for Drum Homes per Cumming & Co. This is the site on low ground across the road from the old Fire Station, with the old Waterloo Line on its north side. Five storeys with pitched concrete tile roof, walls Fyfestone, 'timber effect panelling' and smooth cement render.
St Luke's Church, Viewfield Rd: alterations and extensions; the proposal respects and, to some extent, replicates characteristics of this interesting Simpson/Kelly building.
Linksfield Rd: proposal for erection of a sports facility; big, but on a site already used for this purpose.
Norwood Hall Hotel: proposal for demolition of east wing and erection of a three-storey wing. The proposal does not respect the scale, storey heights or window proportions of this important classical-style mansion (Listed, Category B) and should be refused.
Bieldside Lodge, North Deeside Rd: proposal for erection of dwelling-house. This is a re-application of a proposal turned down on appeal in 1997. Any house built on this site, and particularly that shown in the current application, would have a detrimental effect on the visual amenity of the area and the residential amenity and setting of Bieldside House, a Listed Building. This situation would be worsened by the removal of mature trees which are an essential feature of this low-density suburban area. And public safety would be prejudiced by the siting and design of the access point from the North Deeside Rd. We object to this proposal!
No. 358 North Deeside Rd, Cults, at the east side of the Kirk Brae/N.D.R. junction: the proposed new houses are not in keeping with the character and density of the surrounding properties.
Friarsfield, Cults: ACC has rejected the proposal to build the new Cults Academy at Friarsfield. The new buildings will now be erected on the Academy's playing fields, as per an earlier proposal for which planning permission was granted. The new Local Plan designates Friarsfield as suitable for residential development.
An important exhibition at Blairs College, 'Ratisbon And The Scots'. Ratisbon is the old Celtic name for the city of Regensburg in Bavaria, twinned with Aberdeen since 1955. But Scotland's links with Regensburg/Ratisbon go back much further, mainly via the Benedictine monks. The present Pope, Benedict XVI, is a Regensburg man. The exhibition runs from 4th-30th September, weekends only.
Hilton, former Aberdeen College of Education: ACC has approved the application by CALA for a residential development of 414 new homes (460 car parking spaces) on this 24-acre site, mainly to be comprised of 323 flats in new blocks of up to five storeys.
Slains Castle: some interesting memorabilia, photographs etc in the Slains Castle pub, Belmont St; also in the Grampian Transport Museum, Alford.
Bon Accord Quarter: the Scottish Retail Property Limited Partnership has presented its plans for the 'retail heart' of Aberdeen, which include pedestrianisation of Schoolhill, Upperkirkgate, Broad St and ... Union St! Back in February this year, when the Partnership first presented their scheme for the city centre, they were entirely specific that they did NOT support the proposed pedestrianisation of Union St; they wanted to retain access by public transport to the new amenities. So why the change? And where are the buses supposed to go now?
Former Students' Union, Upperkirkgate/Gallowgate: proposal by the new owners, the Scottish Retail Property Limited Partnership - the proprietors of the St Nicholas and Bon Accord shopping centres - for part-demolition and creation of a new retail development with 304 parking spaces. The 1960s facade to Gallowgate is to be replaced by a higher and more appropriate frontage. There is to be one major shopping space within, car parking to occupy the space behind. Otherwise the plans tell us remarkably little! No detail is given as to the proposed use of the impressive frontage to Upperkirkgate. The entrance hall, stair and assembly hall of the Union seem to be retained. We are concerned that insufficient detail is given on the drawings to indicate what is proposed for the former Students' Union building, having particular regard for the murals by local artist Robert Sivell - search on Google!
Aberdeen Town & County History Society: check out their new website at: www.atchs.org.uk.
Inverness: concern that the town centre is being 'destroyed' by competition from edge/out-of-town retail parks. Twenty-two shops in the town centre have closed down since Xmas.
Prince Regent Hotel, Waverley Place: ACC has approved the proposal by C&L Investments to convert the existing building into 11 flats and to build 3 new townhouses in the grounds.
No. 78 Rosemount Place: proposal for demolition of the present shop (corner of Richmond Place) and erection of a new dwelling-house; the (revised) scheme is now satisfactory. ACC has approved.
No. 27 Rubislaw Den North: proposal for conversion of present nursing home into flats; no objection.
No. 447 Great Western Rd: ACC has approved the proposal for conversion of the former Mannofield Hotel to flats. The proposed rearward 3-storey extension, facing on to South Anderson Drive, is not of an appropriate design for such a prominent site.
Union Row: proposal for an office development on the site of the present Union Row Car Park, rising to 8 storeys in part and providing 485 parking spaces. This would be a massive development on what is a bleak, hemmed-in city-centre site, adjoining as it does Conservation Area 2. It would have a detrimental effect on the residential amenity of the flatted properties in Summer St.
Nos. 1-3 Union Terrace, the 'Monkey House'; proposal for alterations to the upper floors to form a hotel. The only external changes to this magnificent building will be two small dormer windows behind the parapet on the Union St side. A mezzanine floor is to be created above the first floor to accomodate a restaurant and three bedrooms. There would be a further ten bedrooms on the second floor and another five in the attic.
Nos. 8-9 Bon Accord Crescent: proposal for extension to existing offices, 4-storey, granite & dry-dash, quasi-mansard roof of synthetic slate; undistinguished.
No. 10 Prospecthill Rd, Bieldside: proposal for a new dwelling-house, too large for the site and out of keeping with the area.
Dunfermline - Negative Effect of Pedestrianisation on Town Centre: from article in 'Scotsman' 13/07/05: the Dunfermline Town Centre Management Company argues that: "Buses and cars should be allowed back into pedestrianised town centres because they have become binge-drinking ghettos. Dunfermline town centre, pedestrianised 15 years ago, has lost its buzz, with bars & clubs dominating the area once filled by high-quality shops. In the evening the streets can be so stark and threatening that people find it intimidating to go there. The pedestrianised zone is becoming an arena for binge-drinking and violence. Traffic moving through would act as a deterrent. Other town centres had been similarly blighted; in Elgin, pedestrianisation has killed the town centre, which has become a ghost town."
Dunbar Hall of Residence, Old Aberdeen: ACC has rejected the application for a new residential development of 105 flats, to accomodate 460 students, adjacent to St Machar's Cathedral and The Chanonry. This is a fairly massive project of 1, 2, 3 & 4-storey buildings, having 'granite-type ashlar-effect masonry' - a nice way of saying 'fake stone'. Pitched roofs - 'slate roof to east, metal to rear'. Many of the conditions set by the Planning Brief have been ignored. The proposed buildings resemble a barracks, with long lines of small windows, and are intended to last only 45 years. Only 47 parking spaces are to be provided. The design is unsympathetic to neighbouring buildings, excessive in height & scale and inappropriate to the Old Aberdeen Conservation Area. The proposal to create a new driveway between Don St and the Chanonry seems like the thin end of a wedge!
Dunbar St, Old Aberdeen: ACC has rejected the application by Aberdeen University for the permanent retention of the 'temporary' extension or annexe to the Edward Wright Building, and has instructed the University to pull it down by April 2006. The Edward Wright Building fronts on to Dunbar St; the extension, dating from 1996, is on the east side, facing on to grassed open areas. Given that the extension when originally designed was not thought appropriate for the grant of full planning permission, it would surely follow that the self-same building, ten years down the line and whose inferior finishes - resin-coated plywood - are now deteriorating badly, cannot now be a worthy candidate for retention in the important Old Aberdeen Conservation Area. The Society is of the opinion that this extension, with its thin, deteriorating finishes and flush grazing is not a worthy neighbour to the University's other developments nearby and does not merit retention. A permission of this type could create a precedent for the erection of other inappropriate developments of this nature.
Kingswells House: ACC has rejected the application by the Summerland Trust for change-of-use of this lovely old Listed building (Cat. B) from residential to social & recreational activities.
No. 61 Schoolhill, James Dun's House: ACC has rejected the application re. timber decking, already in situ in front garden area, presumably for occupation by tables, chairs etc. We are of the opinion that this means of ground cover is not appropriate adjoining a Listed Building of the quality of James Dun's House. James Dun (1708-89) graduated from Marischal College in 1732 and became Rector of the Grammar School in 1744. A new Grammar School was built on the present site of Robert Gordon's College in 1757 and James Dun's House was built just across the road in 1770.
No. 1 Rubislaw Terrace: proposal for a new extension and internal works for Carden Studios. This involves lowering the boundary wall to Rubislaw Place and the erection of a lift shaft clad in aluminium and joined to the house by a glazed link. We are not happy with the prospect of a lift shaft of inappropriate materials being seen from Rubislaw Place, and feel that it could well be detrimental to the amenity of this terrace and the Conservation Area of which it is part.
Triple Kirks: proposal by Esson Properties to demolish this part-derelict 1844 Listed building (Cat. A) by Archibald Simpson and erect a large block of 60 flats, of fairly banal design. The proposed building is too large for the site and is obtrusive and out of keeping with its surroundings. We would prefer any new building to be on the 'footprint' of the existing building and the brick spire to be retained if at all possible. The Triple Kirks building is historically interesting, resulting from the Disruption of 1843. Loss of the spire would be regrettable; seen from a distance, it is an interesting feature of the skyline, with all the other spires and turrets along Belmont St, but closer to it is an eyesore, resembling a bomb-site, and it certainly appears to be in a ruinous, even dangerous condition. No prospective tenant or developer is prepared to take on the repair & maintenance costs of the spire, of which the core is of granite rubble, encased in bricks recycled from the one-time Dee Village in Ferryhill (see 'Citigait' below); these bricks must have been 100-150 years old even then, in 1844. It would be a good thing to recreate a resident population in this part of the city, but sixty flats sounds like too many for this site. The important thing is to create a new building of a design and quality appropriate to this very attractive and central part of Aberdeen.
Victoria Buildings, Bridge St: condition of this impressive building, already on the Buildings At Risk register, is deteriorating - trees growing out of the frontage, etc. Under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2005, local authorities will, from the New Year, have the power to instruct landlords to carry out certain repairs, including the proper maintenance of guttering and the removal of plants. If repairs are not undertaken, the council itself can do or commission the required work and charge it to the property owner. See our Bridge Street page.
Union Square: Stannifer has sold its 50% stakeholding in the Union Square project to Multiplex UK. This may be less significant than it seems, since Stannifer was itself bought over by Multiplex in Nov. 2004. Work on the Union Square development, originally scheduled to open in Easter 2006, will not now commence until 2006, to be completed in 2008. Union Square is planned to be the second-largest retail complex in Scotland, comprising 60 retail outlets and 20 food & leisure providers. But thus far only 10 prospective tenants have taken out options and the expected 'lynchpin' tenant, Sainsbury's, has gone to Berryden instead. A development like this crucially depends on confidence that the thing is actually going to happen, and that confidence is ebbing away. The site is presently empty, apart from an abandoned car, with no work going on. Provided noise from the adjacent railway and bus stations could be suppressed or filtered out, the site might be better used for a residential development, another 'urban village' like Grandholm, which would help revive the surrounding area, Bridge St, the Green, etc.
Marischal College: a proposal by Aberdeen University to build a new office facility inside the existing facade with car parking, similar to the scheme produced by Aberdeen Asset Management some years ago. An extra floor would be achieved within, but would require no alteration to Marshall Mackenzie's spectacular neo-Gothic granite frontage of 1906.
College St/South College St: ACC has approved scheme for road-widening and creation of a dual-carriageway between Wellington Place and the Guild St/Bridge St junction. No demolition required.
Berryden Rd/Hutcheon St/Westburn Rd Junction: ACC has instructed its officials to devise a 'smaller-scale' scheme of road improvements, following widespread protests and objection to the scheme originally proposed. It rather looks as if ACC, having voted for full pedestrianisation of the mid-section of Union St from 2010, has taken fright at the (reasonably foreseeable) implications and knock-on consequences thereof. We took the view that the original (now rejected) scheme for the Berryden junction would ruin this attractive townscape area, comprising as it does a number of Listed buildings - some of which have, significantly, been 'de-listed' in recent years - and would create a virtual desert, similar to the Mounthooly Roundabout. See our submission to ACC on this matter, on our page Planning Matters 4.
No. 5 Belmont St: ACC has rejected the proposal for demolition of the vacant warehouse to the rear, alterations to the main building and erection of a new building to form a "place of entertainment" for Eskgate Ltd; also alterations and a doorway on to Patagonian Court, the side elevation to be clad in aluminium panels. The new building, just north of the former Young's Antiques, would have a curved 'roof' feature facing west with various balcony features beneath. We believe that the proposed building is out of scale and character with the surrounding buildings - most of them Listed (Cat. B - and would be to the severe detriment of this important Conservation Area and the visual amenity of this part of Aberdeen.
Nos. 6-8 Little Belmont St: application for a rooftop beer garden at Ma Cameron's pub; fine by us.
No. 179 Union St: application for replacement dormer windows, as part of the redevelopment as flats of the upper floors of this building, above Past Times and Games Station. A slightly more sympathetic division of the window panes would be preferred, but this is otherwise a very commendable development, hopefully one of many such, whereby the upper floors of these old buildings are brought back into use and the resident population of the city centre increased.
No. 177 Union St: ACC has rejected the application by McDonald's for a walk-up window, to function as a serving hatch after closing time, i.e., serving directly on to the street; rather obviously undesirable as regards the environmental impact - litter, detritus, etc.
No. 117 Crown St: application for replacement windows, timber, 12-pane; good.
Langstane Kirk: application for a dormer window in the 1960s rear wing; OK.
Nos. 44-46 Willowbank Rd: proposal to demolish the present building ('Terracotta') and erection of 30 flats in two blocks of 3 and 4 storeys, finished in concrete and white render; large windows and a flattish roof. This design is not quite Willowbank Rd and not quite Aberdeen, either; it is not in sympathy with recent proposals for the adjacent site or with other flatted developments in the area. Not good enough!
Grandholm Village: ACC has approved proposal for 18 flats with brick tower features; OK by us.
Woodlands Hospital, Pitfodels: application by Stewart Milne for a residential development of 38 detached houses, 41 townhouses and 17 flats in the grounds of Woodlands Hospital. This site is within the Green Belt as defined in the still-current 1991 Local Plan and no application should be considered in advance of adoption by ACC of the new Local Plan.
The Wallace Tower, the C.16th town house of George Keith of Benholm, removed from its original location in Netherkirkgate (since occupied by M&S Food Hall) to far-off Tillydrone in the 1960s, is now empty, redundant and vandalised: we suggest that the Wallace Tower could with benefit be relocated back, at least as far as our projected Civic Square, where it would complement Provost Skene's House, also of the era of Mary Queen of Scots.
Councillors on ACC's Environment & Infrastructure Committee have voted for full pedestrianisation of the mid-section of Union St by 2010. We have to infer from this - given that we have not been informed differently - that buses will be diverted thus:
- on the north side of Union St: out Union Terrace, along Schoolhill-Upperkirkgate and back via Broad St.
- on the south side of Union St: down Market St, along Guild St and up Bridge St.
The effect of these detours will be to greatly increase journey times, fuel consumption and atmospheric pollution, the more so if buses are delayed by obstructions and general congestion of these narrow streets. The predictable result will be that people will choose to come in by car rather than bus, or will be discouraged from coming into the city-centre at all. These (inferred) bus-routes simply don't take people where they want to go, especially on the south side. People will have to walk an unreasonably long distance to and from their bus-stops. For many, the city-centre will become simply inaccessible.
The above would seem to contradict the recent proposal by the Scottish Retail Property Ltd Partnership (the owners of the St Nicholas and Bon Accord Shopping Centres) for a 'Bon Accord Quarter' (see 4 items below) to comprise the traditional 'retail heart' of St Nicholas St/George St and Schoolhill/Upperkirkgate, whereby buses etc would continue to travel up & down Union St, but Broad St, Upperkirkgate and Schoolhill (as far as Back Wynd) would be pedestrianised.
These two schemes are completely incompatible. Do we want to pedestrianise the mid-section of Union St, and have buses detoured as described? Or do we retain bus access to Union St, and pedestrianise the other three sides of the rectangle, being Belmont St/Back Wynd, Schoolhill/Upperkirkgate and Broad St? The latter scheme makes much more sense to us.
'Citigait', being the former Hydro Board, Crown St/Millburn St/South College St: ACC has approved proposal for a residential development of 159 flats by Barratt, to combine refurbishment and new build, landscaping and underground car parking. Our only problem is the proposed name of 'Citigait'. 'Gait' is an archaic expression meaning road. A residential development isn't a road. Nor does the 'Citi' part make any particular sense. This site used to be occupied by the one-time model village known as Dee Village, which latterly degenerated into a slum. The site was purchased by Aberdeen Town Council in 1895 and became the Aberdeen Corporation Electricity Works, later absorbed into the Scottish Hydro Board. Why not revive the name of Dee Village for the new residential development? See our page Comment & Opinion 1.
Rosemount Church,Caroline Place & Rosemount Terrace: ACC plans clearance for purposes of road improvement of this attractive and characterful cluster of linked houses and short terraces of the 1830s (many Listed) plus a tall row of tenements, forming a triangular area enclosed by old roads and dominated by the former Rosemount Church (also Listed) of 1875, of Gothic design by William Smith &/or James Souttar. Any clearance of these properties for a road scheme of doubtful value would be extremely detrimental to an area of high township value and character. See our page Planning Matters 4 for our submission to ACC on this matter.
No. 367 Union St: the proposal for a nightclub in the basement, under the La Tasca restaurant, was rejected by ACC in September 2004 on the grounds that there was already an over-provision of licensed premises in the west end of Union St. Grampian Police pointed out that Aberdeen's city-centre already contained 114 pubs and 40 other venues. But the developer's appeal has been upheld by the Scottish Executive's Reporter. This means that the developer now has planning permission and the nightclub can go ahead, subject to securing a drinks licence. The Reporter said: "ACC has erroneously sought to regulate the number of licensed premises in the west end of Union St through the Planning Act, as opposed to the licensing acts". ACC's new Local Plan, which has yet to be formally adopted, would allow councillors to rule against the 'clustering' of bars near residential areas.
The 'Bon Accord Quarter', proposed by the Scottish Retail Property Ltd Partnership (the owners of the Bon Accord and St Nicholas Shopping Centres): the 'Quarter' amounts to the St Nicholas St/George St shopping area, extending eastwards on to the proposed Civic Square and Broad St. Some preliminary thoughts:
- The 400-metre glass-covered walkway linking George St to Union St, running over Schoolhill and along the top of the St Nicholas Centre: it has obvious for the last 20 years that George St needs to be reconnected with St Nicholas St and Union St, although an enclosed first-floor-level walkway is an inferior substitute for a street-level link. But the glass roofing is inappropriate at the Union St end. It would spoil the view of the impressive buildings at the corners of Union St/St Nicholas St and would also be out of sympathy with the link via St Nicholas Lane between the 21st century pedestrianised square of St Nicholas St and the medieval Aberdeen of Correction Wynd and St Nicholas Kirkyard. There is no need for the glass roof to extend right through to Union St; it could perfectly well terminate at the St Nicholas Centre. St Nicholas St is a pleasant and popular 'civic space' as it is - some of us like being out in the open air!
- Pedestrianisation of Broad St, Upperkirkgate and Schoolhill up to Back Wynd; excellent.
- The Partnership does not support pedestrianisation of Union St and, while it would like to see the pavements widened, it believes that continued throughflow by public transport is essential to give people easy access to the new facilities; good.
- Demolition of St Nicholas House, council offices to move into Marischal College, creation of new Civic Square with shops, cafes etc, Provost Skene's House as centrepiece, a pedestrian walkway from Marischal College quadrant across Flourmill Lane to St Nicholas Kirkyard; all good.
- These proposals would enhance the dominance of the Union St/St Nicholas St area as the traditional centre of retail activity in Aberdeen, relative to edge-of-town and out-of-town centres. Our view is that the traditional city-centre and the projected Union Square/Guild St development will compete with rather than complement each other; customers will go to one or the other but not both, given the distance and gradient between them. In the contest for visitors, customers and their money, we believe that an enhanced city-centre will come out on top. The danger is that, at least for some interim period, the Union Square/Guild St development will abstract investment, retailers and custom away from the traditional city-centre, to its greater or lesser disadvantage.
A classic episode of municipal vandalism from Glasgow, as described in Private Eye. The former Elgin Place Congregational Church, an A-listed building of 1856 by John Burnet in the style of a classical Greek temple, more-or-less opposite Macintosh's School of Art in Sauchiehall St, (a) mysteriously contrives to "go on fire" and (b) is promptly demolished by the City Council, its fine stonework systematically smashed up even though the walls and portico could perfectly well have been re-roofed and retained. Glasgow City Council now has the cheek to apply for World Heritage Site status on the basis of the remaining handful of Macintosh buildings that they didn't get around to destroying in the 1960s and '70s. Similarly, the present sad & neglected condition of Alexander 'Greek' Thomson's St Vincent Street Church.
Nos. 7-15 Albert St: proposal for alteration & extension to existing office - these five terraced town houses are linked internally - to provide two-storey extensions (largely glass) to the rear. By reason of inappropriate form, design and materials, this proposal would be detrimental to the amenity of this listed terrace and the wider Conservation Area.
No. 43 Union St (Crown Mansions): proposed shop frontage is plain and not interesting. Could do better!
Carmelite Lane, the Grampian Hotel, formerly the Imperial Hotel: proposal for an additional (5th) floor or attic storey to accomodate four flats. Will not affect any of the baroque (gothick?) features of this building; no objection.
ACC is showing something of a tendency to airbrush out or wish away awkward problems, rather than to come up with meaningful solutions to them. We are still waiting for a convincing response to the crucial question of where Union St's traffic, especially the buses, is supposed to go, post-pedestrianisation. Similarly the issue of the 'linkages' between the projected Union Square/Guild St development and the historic city-centre; what forms will these 'linkages' take? How will they overcome the basic topographical problems of gradient and distance? See our page Union Street Area.
Nos. 255-9 Union St, large premises next to Austin Reed, currently occupied by 'Quid's In' discount store. Signage is cheap, garish and inappropriate to Union St. We had assumed it was temporary - apparently not.
No. 22 Waverley Place: ACC has approved the proposal by C&L Investments for change-of-use from the present Prince Regent Hotel to 11 flats and 3 town houses. This is slightly better than the last scheme proposed, but still amounts to over-development of the site. We suggest that the scale and character of the original house would be better served by a scheme removing the inappropriate dormers, creating four quality flats and converting the outbuilding nearest the road into a single town house.
Leggart Terrace: a proposal for a residential development on the whole site lying between the Burn of Leggart and the Aberdeen-Stonehaven road. This is Green Belt land, comprising the city side of the Den of Leggart, and is an area of great scenic value adjoining the Aberdeenshire border, an important part of the setting of the southern boundaries of the city as seen from the Stonehaven and Hilldowntree roads. We object most strongly!
No. 96 Willowbank Rd, formerly the Comet electrical store: a proposal to demolish the existing warehouse and erect a mixed use development of 33 flats and ground-floor retail/commercial units. The ground-floor shops are to have a granite facade, while the two upper floors of flats would be slightly recessed behind a balcony. But only 37 parking places are proposed.
No. 12 Golden Square: a proposal to replace all windows on 2nd floor with white upvc units; not acceptable on this Category B listed building or in the Conservation Area.
Nos. 49-51 Regent Quay/Nos. 6-8 James St: proposal for change-of-use to flats and alterations to existing shops and offices by Martin Bowden. This is a delightful Category B listed building with tripartite Venetian windows at first-floor level. Martin Bowden is known for his sensitive conversions of listed buildings, and this should be no exception.
Nos. 47-53 Market St, former Post Office and Employment Exchange: ACC has rejected the proposal for change-of-use to a casino; no alterations to exterior.
Bloomfield Place: the square blocks of flats on the former barracks site; proposal for new pitched roofs; good.
No. 158 King's Gate: a revival of the earlier proposal to demolish the existing pink granite house - locally described as a very good example of late-1920s/early-1930s architecture - and erect a large block of 20 flats. The main difference between this and the earlier proposal seems to be that car parking would now be underground instead of in the back garden area. See our page Planning Matters 4.
The Civic Society's Annual Awards & Commendations for 2004 - see our page Annual Awards & Commendations.
Diane Morgan's new book, 'Lost Aberdeen', investigates the history and fate of numerous buildings of historic and architectural value, but which are regrettably now gone. She takes us from the early communities of the Green and Gallowgate, charting the disappearance of the medieval townscape. In modern times, she traces the evolution and then the erosion of the Granite City, whose stylish but restrained architecture attracted visitors from all over the world. Published by Birlinn @ £16.99, hardback.
Channel 4 TV is to run a new programme, 'Demolition', in which viewers will be asked to nominate and vote for Britain's ugliest building. One local nomination might be the elongated egg-box between Huntly St and the Music Hall on Union St, currently occupied by Safeway. Like so many 1960s concrete buildings, it was ugly when new, and has aged badly, becoming even uglier with the passage of time. This monstrosity replaced one of the most elegant buildings on Union St, being the town house of Sir Alexander Bannerman, latterly the Royal Northern Club, demolished in 1963. Other nominations are welcome via our Guestbook. See our page Aberdeen's Seven Wonders, Seven Horrors.
Pedestrianisation: ACC has abandoned its proposal to divert buses off Union St and through the Green, originally envisaged at the rate of 30 per hour. But where are these buses now to go? Elsewhere, ACC proposes a transitional 'partial pedestrianisation' of the mid-section of Union St, effective from 2010, whereby buses & taxis would be allowed through as at present, but private cars etc would be excluded. Full pedestrianisation will follow at an unspecified later date, once adjacent roads and links between the projected Guild St 'Union Square' development and Union St have been upgraded. Much of the thinking behind this follows on from the planners' vision of a 'north-south axis' of retail activity, extending from John Lewis and the Bon-Accord Centre through the St Nicholas Centre and down Market St to 'Union Square' in/off Guild St. But the main focus of retail activity in Aberdeen remains where it has always been, i.e., along the line of St Nicholas St/George St. The owners of the Bon-Accord and St Nicholas Centres intend to conjoin their two malls across Schoolhill/Upperkirkgate and otherwise to expand their activities, quite possibly eastwards on to the projected 'Civic Square', i.e., the site presently occupied by St Nicholas House. The 'north-south axis' of retail activity is certainly not an observable reality at present. Despite its name, the projected 'Union Square' development off Guild St is a long way removed - not least by gradient - from the real epicentre of retail activity on the north side of Union St. See our page Union Street Area.
FirstGroup, Britain's biggest bus operator and second-largest rail company, is to build its new global headquarters in Aberdeen, bringing about 140 jobs to the city. Their preferred site, for both headquarters and a new bus depot to replace that at King St, is the playing fields, long-owned by Aberdeen Lads' Club, at Woodside - a greenfield site close to the Haudagain roundabout, Aberdeen's main traffic bottleneck. A public hearing is expected, given that the proposal constitutes a departure from the Local Plan; the final decision will be made by the Scottish Executive.
No. 251 Union St: proposal for conversion of the upper floors, empty for many years, to flats. No external alterations to this Cat. B listed building are proposed.
No. 2 Albyn Place: proposal for internal alterations and change-of-use to create a restaurant with pub licence.
Queen's Cross: ACC has approved the proposal by Esson Properties Ltd for demolition of the 1970s Blenheim House office block & the adjacent petrol station and erection of a new 3-storey office block, with granite detailing, in line with Fountainhall Rd.
No. 231 Springfield Rd: proposal for a residential development involving the demolition of the two existing properties and the creation of ten semi-detached town houses of 2-3 storeys.
No. 1 Bon-Accord Square: proposal to convert to 7 flats; no damage to this Listed building or the character of the Square.
Nos. 419-21 Union St: proposal by Albatross Leisure for change-of-use and conversion to a pub. This is the former sports shop, just down from The Justice Mills pub and the former Capitol Theatre; pubs, clubs and bars, end-to-end! ACC's Local Plan (2004) specifically rules out such 'clustering' of licensed premises.
No. 220 North Deeside Rd, Peterculter, at corner with Brighton Place: proposal to convert to a pub.
Slains Castle, Cruden Bay: the proposal to convert the spectacular and historic ruin of Slains Castle into some kind of banal timeshare apartment complex (see below) has reached a critical stage. It becomes difficult to retain confidence in a planning process which systematically rules out of consideration pretty well every relevant issue, e.g., public opinion and heritage aspects, on the grounds that Slains Castle is not a listed building - why not? Suppose it were proposed that Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven, be converted into holiday apartments; would anybody think this an appropriate thing to do? Yet Slains Castle's potential as a tourist attraction is not much less than Dunnottar's. We may suppose the next thing will be that the powers-that-be will propose filling in the Bullers of Buchan and converting it into a multi-storey car park.
Pinewood, Countesswells Rd: ACC has backed a proposal for 123 family-size houses at Pinewood, designated as 'Green Belt' land in the 1991 Local Plan, but as a 'Housing Opportunity' site in the new Local Plan, which has yet to be formally adopted. The proposal now has to be approved by the Scottish Executive, because the Pinewood site is part-owned by ACC and the scheme breaks Green Belt policy. See our page Aberdeen Local Plan.
Mr George Ferguson, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) proposes that an X-listing should be given to Britain's worst eyesore buildings. Such buildings would be denied change-of-use planning permission so as to speed up their demolition and replacement.
No. 24 Adelphi: proposal to convert to four flats; fine by us, but the plan is to place on the front elevation a new dormer window "to match that at the rear and to replicate the window design from the semi-circular extension to the rear". This would result in a flat-topped dormer with quasi Art Deco horizontal window divisions. We would prefer to see the traditional type of three-sided bay dormer window, as is used all over the city.
Western Peripheral By-Pass: we are concerned as to the effect of such a road on the Green Belt and on some of the listed and historic properties in the proximity of the proposed route, e.g., Kingswells House, Countesswells House, Fairlie House and the Consumption Dyke. An Environmental Impact Assessment is to be made with reference to the Listed Buildings and Scheduled Ancient Monuments along the route. Historic Scotland is involved.
Third River Don Crossing, location thereof and its effect on Tillydrone and Grandholm: the Society takes the view that the provision of this third bridge is a matter which should not be considered until the completion of the Western Peripheral By-Pass, which should reduce congestion considerably. A more satisfactory solution would be a scheme of grade separation at the Anderson Drive/Gt Northern Road/Auchmill Road roundabout.
Union St Pedestrianisation: see our page Union St Area.
A wander along Union St from Holburn Junction to Union Bridge - see our page Union St Area.
ACC's proposals for Marischal College and St Nicholas House are ongoing - see below. Our position is as follows:
1. We would welcome any move to have Marischal College brought back into use and hence continuously maintained as part of the city's heritage.
2. Few would regret the passing of St Nicholas House.
3. The Society would welcome a new development in the area such as would blend in with existing buildings of character, e.g., Provost Skene's House, and would provide an attractive pedestrianised area with shops, galleries, restaurants and cafe-bar facilities, rather than just an open square.
Crown Terrace Baptist Church; a listed building (Cat. B) of 1870 by James Souttar, in an interesting mixture of 16th century Scottish and Italian Gothic styles. Proposal to modernise the interior and to provide a new access door beneath the large west window; seems acceptable.
St. Nicholas Kirk: a huge scheme to modernise the interior, inserting a new floor at gallery level of the East Kirk to provide accomodation for a cafe, committee rooms, new Third World shop at lower level and church at upper level with lift access from Correction Wynd. No change to the exterior. Our main concern is that the impressive interior of the East Kirk, which would be largely retained, would have no adequate formal or ceremonial entry, being accessed only by the existing gallery stairs. This seems a mean sort of entry to such an impressive building.
Nos. 80-84 Queen's Rd (corner of Bayview Rd): proposal for alterations to Nos. 80 and 84 to provide six flats and a new development to the rear of Nos. 80-84 to provide eight flats and one dwelling-house. The effect would be that two of the finest remaining houses in Queen's Rd would be lost and inappropriately sub-divided. The new development to the rear would be out of scale and character with the surrounding area and would be accessed by the existing narrow back lane. The proposed new dwelling-house, facing Bayview Rd, does not accord with the building line of that road. We conclude that the proposal would constitute gross over-development in a Conservation Area of low-density, high-amenity buildings.
No. 425 Union St, the former Edinburgh Woollen Mill, has been converted by J D Wetherspoon into The Justice Mill bar. They are to be commended on the rear elevation to Justice Mill Lane, which is granite-faced and quite handsomely done.
No. 476 Union St: former Victoria Wine and Spar premises, empty since July 1998; proposal for conversion to a licensed restaurant. ACC has approved.
No. 84 Crown St: proposal to convert this listed (Cat. B) property, presently the Ariana guesthouse, into a licensed restaurant.
No. 100 Holburn St: proposal to convert ground-floor shop premises into a coffee shop. ACC has approved.
Grandholm: proposal for erection of a block of 24 flats for Cala, the block to be in the style of a Victorian mill; design & materials seem acceptable.
Carden House: ACC has accepted the revised proposal by the Queens Rd Medical Group for a rearward extension which we feel is still too large; similarly, the design remains unsympathetic. The entire back garden - an important area of open green space at the head of the Lower Denburn - would be used for car parking. The proposal would have an adverse effect on both the character of Carden House and the amenity of the whole surrounding area.
A wander around our prospective 'Civic Square' and its vicinity; see our page Union Street Area.
No. 143 Gray St: the Scottish Executive has approved, on appeal by the developers, their proposal for demolition of the existing warehouse and erection of a 3-storey block of flats. The proposal had been rejected by ACC on the basis of over-development, ie, the scheme is too large for the site in question.
King St Bus Depot: ACC has approved FirstGroup plc's plans to convert their King St site into a retail park and garden centre, comprising five new stores including a Sainsbury's Homebase and parking for 444 cars.
Woodend Hospital: proposal for conversion to flats.
No. 17 Castle St: ACC has rejected the proposal for alteration & extension to form 7 flats on the upper three floors (above The Portal Bar) and to reduce the bar area; no change to front elevation, but rear extensions will be to the detriment of the visual & residential amenity of nearby properties.
Salvation Army Citadel: refurbishment plans, with a view to use by business and community groups, to include a conference centre, restaurant and activity rooms. The worship hall is to be adapted to double as a 550-seat concert hall. The tenement blocks on each side of the Citadel, comprising 21 flats, are to be sold off.
St Nicholas & Bon Accord Malls - proposal by the owners to expand and combine the two adjacent malls so as to create a huge new city centre shopping zone. This is likely to involve the construction of a 'physical link' between the two malls, which are presently separated by Schoolhill/Upperkirkgate. It is suggested that the 'physical link' will have to take the form of an enclosed pedestrian bridge at first-floor level, given that Schoolhill/Upperkirkgate is unlikely to be pedestrianised. We are concerned as to the visual impact of a pedestrian bridge and its compatibility with the 16th century houses on the north side of Upperkirkgate. It is important that the 'physical link' between the present two malls is not such as to create a effective barrier to pedestrian traffic between Schoolhill and Upperkirkgate in the same manner that the construction of the St Nicholas Mall in the early 1980s effectively blocked off St Nicholas St from George St, to the great and continuing disadvantage of the George St area. The intersection or crossroads of St Nicholas St/George St and Schoolhill/Upperkirkgate used to be one of the most vibrant and attractive parts of downtown Aberdeen. The City Heritage Trust comments that "bulky shopping centres that straddle the urban grain can have an adverse effect on the performance of the city-centre as a pedestrian environment, by blocking or diverting logical routes from place to place ... they also take activity and retail off shopping streets". We must hope that the huge damage done to our town centre by retail interests in the 1980s is not going to be compounded in the present decade.
Nos. 21-23 Bon-Accord Terrace, formerly Webb's Antiques - proposal to convert to a restaurant.
ACC proposes a £20 million road improvement programme to complement the planned pedestrianisation of Union St from Market St to Bridge St.
The Granary, Water Lane: ACC has approved the proposal to convert this C.19th granite-built 5-storey warehouse, long disused, into 15 apartments with balconies. The ground floor will be converted into a car parking area. The building is in poor condition and is one of 12 such in Aberdeen registered as being 'at risk' by the Scottish Civic Trust, being neither 'Listed' nor in a Conservation Area.
Kepplestone: ACC has approved the proposed development, now one of 100 apartments, 140 flats, 50 terraced houses and 27 detached houses, plus the sub-division of Kepplestone Mansion to provide 8 flats. The development still consists of too many units, all crowded on to the site in the manner of a 1960s local authority development, with four blocks of 6/7/8 storeys scattered along the line of Queen's Rd; a clear case of overdevelopment and 'cramming them in', this in an area of low density housing, in a Conservation Area and on a very prominent site adjoining the busy trunk road of Anderson Drive. The proposed development would be detrimental to the amenity of the city and the Conservation Area by reason of over-development, the use of buildings of banal design and of a height totally unacceptable in this part of the city; and would be prejudicial to public safety by reason of the increased traffic generated at peak times. See our page Planning Matters 4.
South College St., Ferryhill, the former Devanha Brewery/United Wire site: ACC has approved Barratt's proposal for 15 town houses and 88 flats. This is a thoroughly unpleasant, low-lying site overshadowed by the railway viaduct and the arches thereof, and otherwise surrounded by fast-moving traffic; vehicular access would be a problem. A more acceptable development might be devised on the north side of the site adjoining the demolished (south) side of Prospect Terrace.
Slains Castle, Cruden Bay: proposal to convert this spectacular and historic ruin into holiday apartments. This will discourage access to the Castle by the wider public and would amount to the destruction of a tourist attraction of huge, if so far largely unrealised, potential - and not simply because of the well-known 'Dracula' connection. Slains Castle was for centuries the seat of the Hays of Erroll, the premier family in Scotland after the Crown. They made a major contribution to the history of Scotland and of the north-east in particular, being closely involved with Jacobite campaigns on behalf of the Stuart dynasty. Ideally, Slains Castle would be consolidated and preserved as it is, made safe and secure and provided with proper facilities for visitors. This work would have been undertaken years ago had the Castle been in the ownership of the National Trust. The holiday apartments can be built somewhere (anywhere!) else.
No. 158 King's Gate: ACC has thrown out the proposal for a flatted development, involving demolition of this large house on the north side of King's gate just west of Moray Place and its replacement by a very large H-plan block of flats of three storeys plus a very high attic floor. The proposed development, by its area, height, siting, plot ratio, character and materials, plus the fact that it would replace a fine traditional granite building which is in no need of replacement, would be severely detrimental to the residential amenity of all neighbouring propoerties and to the visual amenity of this area of high township value. The application must be refused. See our page Planning Matters 4.
No. 11 Albyn Place: proposal for change-of-use to restaurant/licensed premises; see our page Planning Matters 4.
No. 11 Golden Square: ACC has approved the proposal to convert the present disused office building into 14 flats - OK by us, but only 8 parking spaces?
Shiprow: Kenmore Ltd has permission to create a £9 mn leisure complex on the NCP site, to include a 110-bedroom budget hotel and a mix of restaurants and nightspots. Bound to be an improvement?
Polmuir Rd, former British Rail goods yard: ACC has approved the proposal by Scotia Homes for 25 houses and 15 flats.
Chanonry/St Machar Drive: ACC has thrown out the proposal by Uni of Aberdeen for a new research building in the grounds of Cruickshank Botanic Garden; 3-storey, polished granite, lead & glass, top floor recessed with louvred canopy. ACC rejected the proposal, on grounds that it is inappropriate in the context of the Old Aberdeen conservation area.
Langstane Kirk: ACC has rejected the proposal for an all-glass coffee shop & gallery, adjoining the west door of the Kirk and the brick wall. But ACC has previously approved plans for outdoor dining and drinking in the Kirk's forecourt, from 9 am to 10 pm.
No. 73a Bon Accord St: proposal for demolition of shop and building new flats. This involves the inserting a wholly inappropriate infill into this early 19th century terrace. The proposed height, relationship to existing buildings at eaves level, use of timber panels and proportions of windows would all be detrimental to the visual amenity of adjoining listed buildings and of the Conservation Area.
Update: the above proposal has recently been extensively amended, in line with our criticisms, and is now much more acceptable.
Culter House Road, Milltimber: ACC has rejected the proposal by Churchill Homes to erect five 'executive' villas. These were to be large, single-storey and three-quarters Disneyland erections on a site of the roadway to Culter House. The location is within the Green Belt and would affect the amenity of Culter House, a listed building. We felt the application should be refused.
Deeford House, No. 69 Riverside Drive: ACC has approved the proposal for alterations and extension to comprise 16 flats. The new 2-3 storey building, to accomodate 11 of the flats, will be along Riverside Terrace and in the back garden area, and granite-faced. The frontage of the C.19th building will not be altered. Our view: the scale & design are not completely unsympathetic, but a lesser number of flats would be more in keeping with Deeford House, a prominent and handsome Category B listed building.
Berryden - proposal by the developer Standard Life to create a new retail park of some 17 stores on the older part of the Royal Cornhill Hospital site, which falls within the proposed new Rosemount/Westburn Conservation Area. Others argue that this very large site, of 13,000 sq metres, should be used for housing. ACCP maintains that the retail park scheme contradicts national planning guidelines, e.g., that out-of-town sites should not be released for retail purposes when city-centre sites are available, as at present, and that the Cornhill site certainly does not qualify as 'city-centre'. There are fears that the large retail development proposed would draw shoppers away from the city-centre and increase the number of empty premises on Union St. ACC has now approved the creation of the Rosemount/Westburn Conservation Area, which will make it more difficult for developers to obtain approval for the demolition or alteration of key buildings such as the granite Hospital. The developer, Standard Life, is appealing to the Scottish Executive.
Elmhill House: the Scottish Executive recently approved plans by SMH for a residential development on the Elmhill House NHS site, thus overturning ACC's vote against it on grounds of the loss of some 200 mature trees and a 'secret garden'. It is to be hoped that proposed changes to planning law will increase the weighting given to local opinion, as expressed through elected representatives, relative to that of civil servants in Edinburgh.
The former Broadford Works, between Hutcheon St and Maberly St: proposal by Hawkrow Ltd for a residential and retail development, to comprise 391 flats and 9 houses plus a supermarket on this nine-acre site. Some properties would be created by conversion of the existing Category A listed building, but five blocks of flats and the nine 4-bedroom houses would be new-built. This scheme is central to ACC's plans to regenerate the George St. area; we approve. The Broadford Works employed 3,000 textile workers at its peak. The new plans refer to the northern block, the handsome granite warehouse facing Maberly St., itself named after the original owners of the Works. The southern block, dating from 1912, is the huge red-brick former warehouse, itself converted for residential use in 1995 and since known as The Bastille. The name 'Broadford' refers to the 'broad ford' across the one-time Loch of Aberdeen.
No. 269 Union St: The Scottish Executive's Reporter has overturned ACC's rejection of the proposal by PB Developments to convert the present Waterstone's (formerly Dillon's) bookshop, next to the Langstane Kirk, into a pub and cafe-bar to the rear, facing on to Langstane Place, with a small shop in the front, facing Union St. Our view is that this is a modern building occupying a prominent site at the corner of Union St/Bon-Accord St. The ground floor should remain as a shop - possibly a supermarket or food store - of some use to local residents, e.g., of the huge number of flats recently built in Union Glen and off the Hardgate, rather than become yet another bar/pub. PB Developments recently won approval from ACC to convert the adjacent Langstane Kirk into a bar/diner, restaurant and casino. ACC's Local Plan states that clusters of licensed premises should be avoided in areas where they could be a nuisance to neighbouring residents.
Should Aberdeen pursue economic growth via shopping or the arts? Or both? See our page Comment & Opinion 3.
Patio Hotel, near Beach Ballroom; ACC has approved the application for a 44-bedroom extension block with lounge, gym etc.
Nos 69-75 Spital, presently Bon-Accord Bookshop: application to create 3 studio flats.
No. 160 Union St, the old Palace Restaurant: proposal for change-of-use to flats.
Garthdee Rd: ACC has approved the (revised) proposal to create a sports/fitness club, to include a swimming pool, dance studios, creche, a bar/restaurant and four outdoor tennis courts. This is a huge development - a large 'modernist' building with a 'wavy' roof, a glass frontage and parking for 222 cars, which will occupy the site between Sainsbury's and the RGU campus.
Student Flats, Mealmarket St/West North St; this is a striking new development in Art Deco style, certainly the most attractive building on the otherwise dreary & charmless thoroughfare of West North St. The 360 students there, added to the 275 students in the new flats at the Old Fire Station, King St, will help regenerate the surrounding area. See our page Planning Matters 1.
Old Aberdeen Heritage Society have produced a video, 'The Story of Old Aberdeen', available at the Aberdeen Journals shop in Union St, also at St Machar's Cathedral and at Old Aberdeen Post Office, price £12.99.
The former Bank of Scotland, Nos. 53-59 Castle St: work to convert this distinguished A-listed building into a new courthouse is in progress. See our page Planning Matters 2.
Northern College, formerly Aberdeen College of Education, Hilton Drive: a major residential development is proposed, of 380 new houses & flats plus 23 flats within the present student halls of residence. We are concerned as to traffic and also as to the presumed loss of the theatre and swimming pool as useful community facilities.
James Dun's House, No. 61 Schoolhill, now accomodates a beauty salon, with a retail area and organic cafe on the ground floor.
Greyhope Rd, Girdleness Lighthouse: proposed demolition of redundant foghorn; why destroy this interesting and memorable piece of marine industrial archaeology?
A City Heritage Trust has been set up, largely funded by the Scottish Executive via Historic Scotland but with contributions from ACC, other bodies and private enterprise, its purpose being to finance the restoration of the city's historic buildings. Councillor Ian Yuill has been appointed Chairman.
Union Square: Diane Morgan writes: Has anyone given serious consideration to why the massive shopping complex undergoing construction at Guild St is to be named Union Square? Has it anything to do with the Union of the Crowns (1603) or the Union of Parliaments (1707)? I suspect it derives from Union St, the name of which refers to the Irish Act of Union in 1800. Aberdeen had no involvement with that, but we're stuck with the name. Union Square is an entirely inappropriate name for the new development, which has nothing to do with Union St, except possibly to make it even less viable than it is at present. Why not call it Harbour Square, or Guild Square? Dr William Guild, after whom Guild St is named, was a great benefactor to the Seven Incorporated Trades and Marischal College.
Justice Mill Lane/Hardgate, former Satrosphere site: ACC has approved plans for a six-storey, 140-bedroom hotel, shops, restaurants, offices and some 64 flats, with underground parking for 222 cars. No pub, nightclub or fitness studio.
Links Rd/Urquhart Rd, former City Hospital site; SMH's plans for 219 flats and 30 townhouses approved by ACC.
Rubislaw & Harlaw Playing Fields; ACC has approved its own application to upgrade facilities inc. new changing rooms, club rooms, car parking, bus lay-by, spectator stand, pitches etc. The proposal has to be ratified by the Scottish Executive because it is a council plan for council-owned land.
St Nicholas House/Marischal College - an interesting scheme is being proposed whereby ACC would be moved from St Nicholas House into Marischal College. St Nicholas House would then be demolished, allowing the creation of a new civic square extending from Marischal College/Broad St backwards to Flourmill Lane and from Netherkirkgate over to Upperkirkgate. Marischal College has been empty for some years, and is likely to remain disused indefinitely if ACC doesn't move in. St Nicholas House, built 1967, will require major and expensive repair work, estimated at £20 mn, if it is to remain in use. Like so many buildings of its type and period - residential blocks, schools, colleges etc - its useful economic life has turned out to be little more than 30 years. We are less sure about the desirability of the proposed civic square. It depends on what ACC propose to put into it. What people seem to like, in other towns and cities, are winding, historic and characterful streets, preferably pedestrianised, with interesting specialist shops, markets, cafe-bars, restaurants, galleries etc; pretty much, in fact, what we had in this area before ACC knocked it all down and/or superimposed the two shopping malls on the intersection of St Nicholas St/George St and Schoolhill/Upperkirkgate. What we don't need is another huge expanse of nothing much, like the Castlegate. We would favour the creation, or re-creation, of a post-medieval streetscape of buildings compatible in size and style with George Skene's House - compatible, but smaller and lower, of 2, 3 & 4-storeys - designed and built by or for the Council, and leased out to appropriate enterprises and organisations, possibly at sub-market rents. See our page Comment & Opinion 1.
ACC also plans a new north-south axis for the city, extending from the Bon-Accord Centre in the north down to the new Union Square development by the railway station.
Bridge St. area - we are pleased to report some changes for the better. The second block down is being refurbished; the Royal Hotel in Bath St. has had its conical terminus cleaned up and window frames repainted, and the frontage of the former Palace Cinema, now the Liquid nightclub, has had its surplus vegetation removed and has otherwise been tidied up. See our Bridge Street page.
No. 151 King St, presently part of Aberdeen University Union - proposed conversion into student flats.
Old Aberdeen Town House - the University of Aberdeen is to upgrade & refurbish the Town House, to create a centre for exhibitions and events. This is a quintessentially Georgian building, dating from 1788; its likeness is used as the badge of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland. It was used as a public library until recently, but is presently empty and in deteriorating condition - window frames are rotting. See our page Round And About 2.
Torry - interesting new plans are being put forward for the regeneration of the Torry waterfront area, in particular the north side of Victoria Rd, St Fitticks Rd, Greyhope Rd & Mansfield Rd., to include an aquarium, new housing, a restaurant, shops, a winter garden, a science campus and a new square.
The RGU site at Kepplestone, at the corner of Anderson Drive/Queen's Rd, is to become a residential development. Stewart Milne Homes proposes a development of 344 houses and flats, comprising 29 detached four-five bedroom villas, 55 four-bedroom town houses and 260 one, two and three-bedroom apartments & flats. The plans include one 9-storey and four 6-storey blocks, and underground car parking. See our page Planning Matters 4.
The Bus Station in Guild St. and part of the Railway Station are to be swept away so as to create a new transport interchange, to include shops, offices, restaurants, bars, leisure facilities, an Odeon multiplex cinema and parking for 1,000 cars. The developers, Stannifer and Hammerson, expect it to accomodate up to 60 shops and 20 leisure operators. The Guild St centre, to be named Union Square, should open in Easter 2006.
The Amadeus nightclub, opened in 1997 on the beach-front, has closed. The owners, First Leisure, have 20 years left of their original 25-year lease of the building. Amadeus was the largest nightclub in Aberdeen, with a capacity of 2,100. Its closure might indicate that there is now an over-provision of this kind of amenity in the city, or that city-centre venues are more successful. First Leisure had been looking for a city-centre site for their nightclub, which would suggest that they saw the beach-front location as a problem.
Union St. is intended to be pedestrianised, from Bridge St. to Market St, by 2010. The new retail developments on the Beach Boulevard and at Guild St may take some stores out of Union St, but it is expected that others will move in. There are presently about 20 vacant retail premises on Union St, mainly towards the West End. Union St may be best suited to cafe-bars and specialist or niche retailers, book-shops, music stores etc. The proposed pedestrianisation of Union St may well have the effect of increasing traffic in localities as far away as Rosemount, Ferryhill, Pittodrie and Queen's Cross.
It was hoped that the Salvation Army Citadel would be taken over by a partnership of the Peacock Gallery, Grampian Housing Association and the Foyer. Finance was sought to convert the Citadel into a centre for the visual arts. This project had the potential to galvanise and rejuvenate the Castlegate and to provide the city with a major cultural asset of importance not just for the arts but for the city's wider economic and diversification strategy. ACC intends to improve the present uneven surfaces of the Castlegate square and to increase/improve access, both to the square and to St Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral via Peacock Close.
St Nicholas Kirkyard's revamp (see below) is now complete, including new signage, benches, landscaping & lighting and cleaning of John Smith's granite frontage. But there remains a law & order problem in the Kirkyard, not least of alcohol & drug abuse, drug-dealing and muggings. There is little point in ACC passing new by-laws, as against drinking in public places, if there is no police presence to enforce them.
Aberdeen City Centre Partnership plans to create world-class streetscapes, a revived Castlegate, improvements to parks & gardens, notably Union Terrace Gardens, and pedestrian thoroughfares with leafy walks and street cafes. More than 20 'spaces & places' are due to be improved in a rolling programme which includes Langstane Place/Bon-Accord St, St Nicholas Kirkyard and George St/Loch St. ACCP proposes floodlighting schemes and outdoor markets. They aim to encourage businesses to maintain their frontages to a higher standard.
The Woolmanhill Hospital / Denburn car park area is to be extensively revamped, with new shops, offices, an hotel, restaurants, cafes, flats and landscaped open spaces. A new health centre and a new multi-storey car park will replace the present concrete eyesore.
ACC's Planning Committee has approved the application to convert the upper floor of the former Langstane Kirk into a casino, with bar and restaurant, to accomodate 442 customers and to be open until 6 am. See our page Planning Matters 2.
Grampian Primary Care NHS Trust plans to demolish the Royal Cornhill Hospital at Berryden and make the site available for a new retail park. This could be scuppered by ACC plans to create a new Rosemount and Westburn Conservation Area - a scheme which first emerged in the 1991 Local Plan and is restated in the current Draft Local Plan.
The demand for housing continues to outstrip supply. Old industrial and 'brownfield' sites are to be occupied by new residential developments, as at Grandholm Village, on or around the site of the A-Listed Crombie Mill, which is to become a heritage centre. This very large development will comprise 284 homes, several bars, shops, a restaurant and a gym.
29th August 2010
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