Here’s a quick summary though, just in case:

They lost.  Big time.

This however, this, if  true,  is nothing short of a f***king scandal…Check it out:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/the-tycoon-the-secret-meeting-and-the-battle-for-the-soul-of-aberdeen-city-1.1021429

It’s become a bit of a joke to be honest,  unfortunately it’s deadly serious when not a day goes by without some ACSEF-weighted spin appearing.  Here’s today’s offering for example.  Translation: ‘We asked the people for their opinion, they gave it, but they’re the wrong kind of people. These aren’t real people.  They’re organised protesters’. It’s laughable stuff…

Anyway, the aforementioned consultation on The City Square Project ends on Friday, so fill in the survey here if you haven’t already done so. (I know most of you have, but it’s for the benefit of anyone who hasn’t taken action yet)

Alternatively, freephone 0800 111 4881, text your thoughts to 60777 followed by the word ‘square’ or email consultation@thecitysquareproject.com Remember to keep it civil (or civic, if you will).

That ‘vocal minority’ petition in support of the Peacock building is here (and currently at over 8000 signatures), please bring it to the attention of anyone who may be interested in keeping the city centre’s unique topography intact.

This could well be your last chance to have a say on the matter.

I mean, even the squirrels are speaking out now (and you dinna mess wi’ squirrels).  Oh, and in case you missed it, last Saturday saw a wee event in support of the gardens (check out this video of it by the supremely talented Adam Proctor) and there’s something similar happening on Friday at 2pm too. Same place, under Rabbie Burns’ statue.  Poetic.

Twenty tracks across various genres have been submitted by some of the best local talent (including Fiona Soe Paing, & Alan ‘Kitchen Cynics‘ Davidson) and you can pay what you want for the album. So, for as little as a quid you can do your bit for UTG and get some pretty cool stuff in return.

It’ll be available here

More on this later, however it might be worth your while heading down to the gardens at 1pm on Saturday the 27th (that’s tomorrow!) Something might be happening. *taps nose*

They haven’t a clue what would go in there: Italian Piazzas, Trafalgar Squares, Guggenheim Museums, underground tunnels, concert venues, babylon-esque gardens and various other nonsensical, reactionary ‘ideas’ have been mooted thus far, all with very little substance to them.

You just know that the huge funding shortfall would mean we’d end up with a half-arsed, embarrassing mish-mash which would cause irreplaceable damage to the city’s image and physical make-up. A piece in today’s Scotsman sums up the situation perfectly: The City Square Project is unworkable and threatens not only Peacock’s immediate future, but the future of arts and culture in the city as a whole.  Roll on Thursday…

Update 17/02/10: The Annie Lennox picture story has been picked up by The Scotsman today

http://soundcloud.com/fionasoepaing/dropbox

Or email them to:

carmichaeljayne@hotmail.com

…before Saturday 20th February and they’ll be considered for inclusion. They’re also looking for artwork too, get in touch at the address above or through this Facebook page.

Positive stuff…

Worst. Pun. Ever. It is relevant though, read on…

It’s been a wee while since we had a Union Terrace Gardens update outside of the Twitter Feed, but there have been some interesting developments today, so here goes:

It appears that local politicians have seen through ACSEF’s rather one-sided ‘public consultation’ and have called for a proper public debate on the matter.  ALL sides of the argument (and local residents) will finally get a chance to air their views. Hallelujah. It’ll take place on Thursday 18 February in the Salvation Army Citadel (which rather ironically overlooks the city’s original ‘civic square’) at 6.30pm. More details on a Facebook event page here…

…and exiled Aberdonian singer Annie Lennox (See? See? Pun justified) has added her name to the ever-growing list of people speaking out against the City Square Project, there are links to her thoughts on the matter here and a BBC story is here.

It’s so sad to think that the original Peacock plans would be well underway by now had Wood and ACSEF not foisted their non-ideas upon us and caused this almighty mess.  Well done…

Update 09/02/10

More coverage of the Annie Lennox story:  Times Online,  Scotsman,  STV,  Press & Journal

Local businessman speaks out on ‘pressure’ to support the City Square plans (P&J) while an editorial from the same newspaper comes out firmly in support of the Wood/ACSEF proposals. Sigh.

The good folks at Peacock and I Heart UTG ain’t taking it lying down however, check out the banners which appeared in the gardens this morning below! (Pic by Jaco Justice)

There’s also new blog Compare The Square which does a good job of pointing out the sheer folly of ACSEF/Wood’s ridiculous, gossamer-thin ‘plan’.

It’s time for action folks.

Expect much, much more on this soon, STV are the first to pick up on the story here...

Update: The City Square Project’s public consultation survey is now live here. Make sure you have your say…

So, there’s a campaign meeting at Peacock Visual Arts tonight (Wednesday 16 December) at 6pm. Go along and see how you can help support PVA, and show up the City Square Project for what it is:  An ill-thought out money-hoover plainly ‘designed’ on the back of a fag packet (or many fag packets, they haven’t decided exactly what it is yet)…

Local artists Philip Thompson and Gabrielle Reith have a nice project going on in which they (and friends) create a typeface every week.  This week it’s inspired by, yup, you guessed it, the ‘City Square Project’.  That’s it in action below. It’s a pretty cool resource for any graphic designers/font junkies out there (and I know you are out there)…

In addition, there’s an excellent overview of the débâcle which nicely encapsulates what all right-minded people are thinking, download the typeface and check out the post here