SIR Ian Wood has offered an olive branch to the council by putting his £50million firmly back on the table for a city centre regeneration plan.
But the oil services tycoon has insisted that new revamp proposals – outlined by city architect John Halliday – must be adapted to become “transformational”. The businessman has written to council leaders in response to Mr Halliday’s plans for the Union Terrace Gardens and Denburn Valley area.
Last night, Labour leader Barney Crockett said he would be keen to enter into a “dialogue” with Sir Ian – while his coalition partners, the Conservatives, invited him to sit on a new project board to oversee regeneration plans.
Despite the new spirit of co-operation, however, council bosses have not yet got around the table with Sir Ian to discuss his offer.
In his letter, the businessman said Mr Halliday’s scheme fell short of what he believed the city needed – but £50million previously pledged by the Wood Family Trust would still be available.
Meanwhile, Mr Crockett warned that retention of a Victorian park in the city was a “red-line” issue for his group.
Yesterday’s developments, in what has been a long-running and often bitter saga, represent the closest both sides have come to a compromise agreement.
Sir Ian said designs from the Halliday Fraser Munro chief executive, which suggested raising the sunken Union Terrace Gardens to allow for car parking underneath, did not go far enough.
He said: “Central to the Wood Family Trust’s interest in making the funds available is to cover the unsightly exposed Denburn Valley roadway and railway and the vastly underused Union Terrace Gardens.
“The proposal to raise the existing gardens to allow one level of car parking and taxi access for the station would effectively cost the same as raising it to provide street level access and would have little impact on the extent to which the gardens are used because they would still be very significantly and unacceptably ‘sunken’.
“This would result in an unacceptably expensive car park and would be a lost opportunity.”
Sir Ian also suggested that the cost of relocating the entrance to the city’s train station, central to the Halliday plan, would have to be added on to an estimated £100million price tag.
He added that the Wood Family Trust would be willing to provide “appropriate funding support” if the council took on board his comments on raising the gardens to street level.
Campaign group the Friends of Union Terrace Gardens rejected the Halliday plans at the weekend, which leaves council leaders with the challenge of trying to keep the various factions in the debate happy.
Mr Crockett said last night his door had always been open to Sir Ian. “If we can keep the dialogue going and Sir Ian wants to be on board, then we would welcome that,” he said.
“I don’t think there is any doubt the Halliday plans galvanised opinion. It was an enormous response from people in the north-east and so it is important we keep that in the centre of our minds.”
Sir Ian also said he hoped the Scottish Government might still support the regeneration plans through the tax incremental financing (Tif) mechanism.
On a recent visit to the north-east, First Minister Alex Salmond said he was “very impressed” with the Halliday plans.
Mr Crockett said he would be keen to have further discussions with the Scottish Government over the Tif option.
The council’s Tory group said Sir Ian should be invited on to a project board to oversee the process.
In a statement, members said: “We feel that harnessing the talents of Sir Ian Wood would be in the greatest interests of developing a project of regeneration that Aberdeen deserves.”
Mr Halliday said he would be willing to discuss his proposals to find a “solution acceptable to all”.
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