The Winning Project
1. View the project proposed by the winning team
View the interactive site plan and take the tour at this link
This is part of the presentation that your Board and Council received from the winning architects, before confirming their support for the project.
AGCC Support
2. Understand why your Chamber is supporting the project
The busy persons 30 second briefing
Why you should vote for the City Garden Project:
- The City will only get the ‘TIF’ funding if we vote ‘yes’ – this is the condition set by the Scottish Government. As well as the City Garden Project, this will also mean Art Gallery improvements, the redevelopment of St Nicholas House, the redevelopment of North Denburn, and a city centre connectivity project – in total worth £182m. If there is a ‘no’ vote we will get none of this much-needed investment.
- The city needs a headline public infrastructure development to kick-start investment, realise tourism growth potential and improve cultural infrastructure provision. The status quo is not an option.
- Aberdeen needs to be more ambitious. The City of Culture bid for 2017 will only be successful if we have the City Garden Project to hang the bid on.
- Existing businesses will not pay more in rates. The TIF model provides funding for the project by retaining rates for the new businesses in Aberdeen.
- There is £70m of private sector investment available including £50m from the Wood Family Trust, with the remainder of the TIF funding model. Aberdeen City Council do not have the budget for any of the expenditure related to delivering the City Garden Project, and public services will not be affected.
- There will be twice as much green space, which will be more usable and accessible, giving us a better-connected city.
- There is no other source of funding for Aberdeen to pitch for. The money is not available for anything else.
- The economic case prepared by PwC identifies up to 6,500 jobs created and up to £122m p.a. of additional revenue for the city.
Q & A
3. Find answers to the questions that you still have about the project
The results of the first survey of members of the Chamber were sent to you last week. These showed that 64% of you support the project from the 445 member responses received.
147 of you left comments in the ‘free text’ box – 51 of you expressed concerns about, for example, the economic case, the exclusion of shire residents, or scepticism about delivery, and 23 of you thought the money should be spent on something else.
Here are the most frequent concerns and questions that you asked, and our advice about how to find your own answers from a variety of sources:
Question 1. What is the TIF and how does it work?
The Voteforcitygarden website provides an accurate description of the TIF funding model at this link.
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Extracts from the Voteforcitygarden website:
“The City Garden will not cost you and will not be funded through your Council Tax.
It will not take money away from schools and other services.
40% of the funds are already secured with a further £15 million to be raised through further private donations.
Aberdeen City Council has applied to the Scottish Government for funds that will be paid for by the rates from new businesses attracted to the city.
This is known as tax incremental financing (TIF). This is new money available for investment in the city – it can only be used for major projects.
The Scottish Government is promoting the use of TIF to fund regeneration schemes across Scotland and has pledged that, if the public vote for the City Garden, Aberdeen will be able to use a TIF to fund 50% of the City Garden Project and the wider city centre regeneration.
The TIF would also allow for an additional £20 million grant towards Aberdeen Art Gallery, meaning that we have a total of £182 million investment in our city at no cost to the Council or to you the tax payer.
What is TIF?
TIF is a bit like a mortgage.
The “property” is valued at £182 million. The “property” is the City Centre Regeneration Scheme (Aberdeen Art Gallery, St Nicholas and North Denburn redevelopments, the new public realm and the City Garden Project).
The deposit is paid up front with the £70 million of private donations. The City Council takes out a loan for the rest.
This Council loan is repaid over 25 years using the business rates received from new businesses.
Under a TIF, the Scottish Government allows the City Council to keep all of the rates from the new businesses rather than nearly half going to the central government as is the case with current business rates.
The new businesses attracted to new industrial developments in the TIF footprint (city centre, Dyce and Bridge of Don) provide the income through their business rates which the council uses to pay back the loan.
Aberdeen is therefore being given both the deposit (from donations) and the income (from new businesses and government) to pay back the loan.
The economic impact in the TIF business case shows that the new rates generated are enough to cover the loan costs. The new business figures are based on the same growth rate that is forecast in the local development plan, where much of the development for new business is already underway.
There is therefore minimal risk of not being able to pay back the loan.
Aberdeen has no other way of qualifying for a TIF and if we don’t use this opportunity, we will not have another chance. It is everything or nothing.”
The Aberdeen City Council preliminary TIF submission to the Scottish Future Trust can be viewed on the Aberdeen City Council website at this link
Question 2. Why can’t I vote if I live in the shire?
This is the decision of Aberdeen City Council and cannot be changed.
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The Chamber continue to argue that the economic cluster which is key to the future performance of the region is the wider Aberdeen ‘journey to work’ area, and that we have to improve joined up work across this core area to compete globally.
The results of the first survey of Chamber members showed that 66.3% of members who responded who lived in the shire would vote for the City Garden Project, compared to members who responded who lived in the city, 60.5% of whom indicated that they would vote for the City Gardens Project.
Question 3. How accurate is the Economic Case for the City Garden Project prepared by Price Waterhouse Coopers?
The Economic Case for the City Garden Project prepared by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) was prepared to the specified guidelines from the Scottish Government (SG) and the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT). This is a standard template, which must be followed to be considered for TIF. PwC are involved in other TIFs and their analysis is robust.
The PwC economic case can be viewed on the Aberdeen City Council website at this link.
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The Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) website states:
"SFT leads the UK with its Tax Incremental Financing (TIF), which will unlock infrastructure for major regeneration schemes in Scotland. There will be up to six TIF pilot projects in Scotland, with three already announced: the Edinburgh Waterfront Development; the Buchanan Quarter in Glasgow; and Ravenscraig. It is estimated that the first three pilots will bring c.£250m of public sector investment and further unlock more than £1.5bn of private sector investment.”
The guidelines issued to potential TIF pilot applicants can be viewed via the SFT website at this link.
Q4. Why can’t we spend the money on something else?
This is simply not an option and is not how project funding works. The money cannot be diverted to other pet projects. The £50m from the Wood Family Trust is only available for this project. The TIF application would not have been approved by the SG/SFT for pilot status without a project-based application.
Remember that the TIF application for the £182m package funds the City Garden Project and four other key developments – all of which are important to Aberdeen city centre:
1. The proposed City Garden Project.
2. Redevelopment of the St Nicholas House site.
3. Redevelopment of North Denburn.
4. Development of a new city centre walking route ("public realm").
5. A substantial extension and improvement of Aberdeen Art Gallery
Q5. Will we end up like Edinburgh with their trams?
Members expressed concerns that the project could not be delivered on time and on budget. In contrast to Edinburgh’s management of the trams, Aberdeen City Council delivered the refurbishment of Marischal College on-time and on-budget to wide acclaim. The secret ingredient was a first-class project management team. Something we are good at in Aberdeen – the runway extension at BAA Aberdeen came in under budget and 8 months ahead of schedule.
Q6. Why didn’t the design that I liked and/or design number 2 win the International Design Competition?
The Judging Panel took into account the advice received from the public exhibition forms, a technical advisory panel and other advice to come to their own decision. The City Garden Trust website states:
“Why did the Granite Web win the design competition?
Because it is an exceptional, world class design. The jury of the International Design Competition chose the winner from the two most popular designs from the shortlist on display at the public exhibition after additional design work and further technical review.
After the first round of the competition, the design team reworked their scheme to make it even more compelling. Now, the design covers the railway and Denburn dual carriageway, the height of the left wing of the Butterfly was reduced to allow a clear vista across the park to His Majesty’s theatre and there was a general softening of the whole design. The pathways were simplified and widened to include casual seating areas and a connection under Union Bridge onwards to the railway station.
The winning design scored higher in all key areas of the brief including creation of more new space, cost and viability in construction and on-going maintenance, environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.”
Visit: www.thecitygardenproject.com/faq
Second Member Opinion Poll
4. Complete the second Chamber Survey when it is sent to you on February 17th
Make sure that you complete the second Chamber Survey which will be sent to you on February 17th – even if you have completed the first survey and your views have not changed.
This is so we can track any changes in opinion throughout the campaign period and give you accurate information about Chamber member views. We are looking for a similar sample of 400+ members.
The results of the first survey can be viewed on the Chamber website at this link.
Click below to read some examples of the comments that you made in the first survey:
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- I live in Glasgow and work in Aberdeen. Come on Aberdeen, let's get moving with some much deserved redevelopment - you're falling way behind Glasgow and Edinburgh.
- This is a great opportunity to replace a loved but no longer functional city centre garden with a vibrant, functional but inspirational space.
- We need more attractions to bring people into the City Centre and convince prospective incomer businesses that the city is an interesting and vibrant place to live and work.
- I do prefer some of the other designs for transforming the gardens, but as it stands, it's clear that retaining them as they are is not really making good use of what is an attractive, green space.
- It is not clear how a return on the million pound investment on the project will be measured as successful or not
- there is no need to change the historic heart of the city centre. The gardens do need upgraded, the toilets could be re-instated, and policed to remove the drunks and druggies but at a much lesser cost.
- We elect councillors to make these decisions, I do not think a referendum is necessary.
- I think the whole idea is a complete waste of time and money, the gardens are fine as they are, just need to be maintained regularly. I have fond memories of playing there when I was young and watching puppet shows.
- Please provide honest and easily understood information
- In their current form Union Terrace Gardens are an uninviting eyesore. The city centre needs to be unified providing a much-needed focal point.
- Economic benefit figures published in support are not credible.
- There are good arguments on both sides of the fence but on balance I think we need to give Aberdeen a unique heart.
Use Your Vote
5. Use your vote in the Referendum
If you do not use your vote, you have no right to complain after the event. 95% of Chamber members who replied to the first survey said that they were going to vote in the referendum. 445 responses from 1200 members implies a turnout of 37% with an estimated range of 25% to 50%. If you do not vote, then you are unlikely to get the result that you want.
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The Aberdeen City Council Notice of Referendum can be found at this link.
The Aberdeen City Council notice of campaigning organisations can be found at this link.
