Rebecca Buchan: Rising abandoned Aberdeen sites should spark moves to save crumbling landmarks

Growing up as a little girl I was probably unusually fascinated by buildings.

Perhaps it’s no surprise given I was the daughter of an architect, but my favourite holiday destinations were generally shaped by where had the bonniest buildings (this might explain my fondness for Barcelona).

But it’s also one of the reasons I adore Aberdeen so much.

Our gorgeous granite structures are something we’re famous for and with any luck they will be around for hundreds of years – unlike oil and gas.

So it saddened me last week when the extent of Aberdeen’s abandoned and derelict sites were laid bare.

Across the city, more than 250 acres of land are highlighted by the Scottish Government in a huge list of 65 “vacant and derelict” pieces of land.

This totals more than 150 football pitches.

Architecture really does make a place. So to think of the potential we have around the city literally sitting and rotting away made me wonder what more could be done.

We have real gems in Aberdeen that have spent decades decaying without any investment or care.

Take just two examples – the old Broadford Works factory and Woolmanhill Hospital.

If redeveloped, this could bring significant regeneration to the whole area.

Both sites are interesting as, by breathing new life into both, they would benefit each other.

With 0.3 miles between them think of the good it would do to the whole Denburn and George Street area, and the city centre.

But the chances of that happening any time soon are slim.

What’s holding up redevelopment of abandoned Aberdeen buildings?

Multi-millionaire owners seem content to sit on these buildings for as long as they like.

And on the other side of the coin, the local authority is doing very little in the way of making them attractive propositions.

Last year Aberdeen City Council voted to start charging business rates on vacant listed properties.

The idea, so they said, was that they would feel pressured into investing in the sites in order to get them leased, rather than allowing them to sit and rot.

But in reality, all that has done is put further pressure on owners to sell up and make them a less attractive prospect for new buyers.

You could argue that if the council set up some sort of grant, similar to the Union Street Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme, this could help developers get on their way.

But really any funds that could benefit these developments would be a drop in the ocean compared to the cash they would save from not having to pay business rates.

How much is the council making from Woolmanhill?

Last year when these measures were announced I contacted my pals at DM Hall and asked, out of curiosity, how much the council would rake in on rates from Woolmanhill alone, having never received a penny before.

I must admit I wasn’t shocked to learn that with this new tax, the local authority is now almost £90,000 a year better off, just for the pleasure of it sitting there. And what are they doing with this cash to help save our heritage?

Also please explain to me how this is an incentive because as I see it, it’s just more money that’s being taken away from the potential regeneration of the building.

It is clear as day, to anyone who walks past the magnificent structures, that significant work would be needed to take them into any state of repair. Millions of pounds would need to be invested.

‘They could remain in limbo for some time’

And with strict planning laws in place which limit the potential uses for the buildings, it feels to me many are destined to sit there for decades more to come.

The majority of these properties will have been acquired long before business rates would have been imposed and when Aberdeen was considered a booming oil and gas hub.

But with a drop in the oil price and the extra pressure of these taxes it feels the could be destined to remain in limbo for some time.

Historic Environment Scotland and charities like the North East of Scotland Preservation Society (NESPT) do their best to ensure buildings are preserved as best they can for the benefit of the local communities.

But the scale of Aberdeen’s abandoned buildings is too great for them to ever be able to scratch the surface.

If the local authority continues to ignore the significance of this, my fear is that we lose these buildings for good.

Save these abandoned Aberdeen buildings before vandals have their way

In recent years both Broadford Works and Woolmanhill have been targeted by vandals.

Kids break in and set fires, strip copper and other materials away, smash through windows and break through doors.

Developers set about securing the building, but they always find another way in.

Over time the damage caused could become irreparable and then eventually may lead to these historic landmarks being delisted, paving the way for the bulldozer to plough through them.

We can not allow our precious heritage to be erased, because the council needed some quick cash and didn’t think about the ultimate consequences.

If the latest list is anything to go by, an urgent strategy is needed sooner rather than later.

Rebecca Buchan is deputy head of news and sport for The Press and Journal and Evening Express