I can remember vividly the day plans to build a cableway in Aberdeen were first unveiled.
It was long before the effects of Covid could be seen in the city centre, but the start of the oil and gas decline had hit hard.
A group of mostly young adults had come together as an army of volunteers to try to do something to revive our ailing city. Spearheaded by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, Vanguard was born. But it was not formed to drive the Chamber’s agenda.
Its role was merely to facilitate the group, provide some mentoring, and ensure that the right people were in the right room. From there, it was up to the volunteers, who were from all walks of life from right across the city.
I was not involved at its inception, although – hands up – I have since joined the steering group.
It was clear from the get-go what the intention was: there was a mutual desire from these people to see the place they lived and worked thrive.
So, when the news reached me recently that, almost six years after it was first discussed, a private firm was interested in building cable cars in the Granite City, I was delighted.
I have always been partial to a city with a good cableway. I make no secret of my love for Barcelona. But, really, I was delighted because the dedicated work that had been put into trying to visualise a better future for our city was being noticed, even if it wasn’t by those directly in control of Aberdeen.
I have no doubt in my mind that Aberdeen City Council will never invest in cable cars – not connecting the Castlegate to the beach, anyway.
I am also not suggesting that they should do so. If anything has been made clear from the outpouring of reader comments since we broke the cable car story last week, it’s that there are a raft of cherished public resources which are being slashed – residents would much rather see these reinstated over a new, taxpayer-funded cableway.
But why would anyone scoff at the chance, even if it be minute, of inward investment?
Council doesn’t have to fund cable cars
It was always clear there were two options on the table. One would be for the council to stump up some cash by way of underwriting the cableway project – but, in doing so, they would be eligible to make money from it.
The other was for the council to simply allow the developers to build on its land at no cost. Land, to my knowledge, that is not currently earmarked for anything else.
If the cable car firm had been able to generate enough interest from companies willing to invest, why should this proposal have fallen at the first hurdle?
It is understandable that people have a fire in their bellies about protecting community assets. I have, over recent weeks, led the team in charge of covering Aberdeen City Council budget cuts, so I am well-versed in the community’s plight.
Still, while it’s important to ensure vital public resources are protected, this shouldn’t prevent progress. Why does it need to be one or the other?
It goes without saying that the local authority’s priorities during a cost-of-living crisis should be the public services needed most. But that does not mean we have to sit and watch our city fall further and further into decline until the economy picks up again.
Let’s keep the conversation and ideas flowing
Every offer of investment, if genuine, deserves exploration. And, at the same time, every plausible idea deserves to be encouraged.
As I read through the scores of comments online about an Aberdeen cable car, I found myself growing increasingly annoyed by those who had not even taken the time to properly read about what they were shaming.
Their negative, ill-informed voices drowned out those who looked at the venture positively or with an open mind. What is there to gain from such negativity?
Last month, community-led organisation Our Union Street was formed, and a platform was given to those who had ideas about how to improve Aberdeen. It’s very much like the Vanguard programme, if I am honest, but on a much wider scale.
People in the business community want to help local firms survive and thrive. The experts at the helm are looking to us – you and me – to provide some inspiration as to what the future of Aberdeen could look like.
Within weeks, the group was inundated with more than 4,000 responses, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous – from glass coverings across our main thoroughfare, to a zipline covering the length of Union Street.
I am pretty sure the council aren’t going to fund any of those ideas either. But that doesn’t mean they are redundant.
The more weird and wonderful ideas are pitched, talked about and considered, the better, in my opinion, because the conversation is flowing. All it takes is that one spark.
And, in six years’ time, who knows…?
Rebecca Buchan is deputy head of news and sport for The Press & Journal and Evening Express
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