A petition to scrap a controversial £107million development in Aberdeen city centre- which has been signed by thousands of residents – will be handed in tomorrow.
The Reassess the Marischal Square Development campaign was started online by Aberdeen subsea engineer, Fraser Garrow, with the petition winning support of more than 6,500 signatories in less than two weeks.
Mr Garrow, 25, argues that the proposed plans by Muse Developments do not reflect the views of Aberdeen residents who gave feedback during the developer’s public consultation.
He said: “When I started I wasn’t expecting it to do this, so I didn’t set an aim. I was at Newburgh Beach basically and heard people speaking about it. It has got a lot of people speaking.
“It shows that the public consultation was not sufficient. I think there must be something done. Hopefully we’ll get a temporary delay in the project.
“I am quite passionate about nice buildings and I don’t think Aberdeen has enough space for people to just sit and enjoy themselves. Spaces where people can meet. Every big city has them but Aberdeen doesn’t have that.”
The petition is now just several hundred signatures away from Mr Garrow’s aim of 7,500.
He will hand it into the council’s Marischal College HQ tomorrow but leave it online for future objectors to sign.
The petition gained so much traction that it prompted fellow objector, Owain Robertson, to organise the Just Say No to Marischal Square demonstration this Saturday between 1-2pm.
Lorna McHattie, a campaigner against the scheme, said: “The public clearly feel that there are many unanswered questions regarding the Marischal Square Development.”
However, Aberdeen City Council’s finance convener, Willie Young, said: “Let’s be honest here the council has entered into an agreement with Muse Developments, the people who are signing petitions could have done all of this long before.
“We have moved on and we look forward to working with Muse Developments. Muse did more than what any developer had to do.
“We have really, really secured an excellent deal for the people of Aberdeen. The council is not going back on any deal.
“We will not, cannot, should not run a council on the basis of the P and J’s letter page.”