Scotland’s First Minister said Aberdeen councillors should "hang their heads in shame" after rejecting against controversial plans to transform a city centre park.
The business case for the £140m City Garden Project was rejected at a full council meeting on Wednesday.
Despite winning the majority of public support in a referendum, councillors voted 22-20 against the project, instead supporting a proposal from the Independent Alliance Group, led by councillor Marie Boulton, to use the money to regenerate Union Street, the Arts Centre, the Music Hall, the Lemon Tree and the Mither Kirk.
However the council will now have to consult with Scottish Futures Trust on whether they will accept a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) bid based on not proceeding with the City Gardens Project.
Mr Salmond said: “I think it’s deeply disappointing. There’s two aspects to this. One is there was a referendum vote in Aberdeen in favour of this project. Now I reckon once you put a matter out to the people you should accept the result and I really think councillors who voted against the popular will in the referendum really should hang their heads in shame actually for ignoring the popular will.
“Secondly is about the principle. Aberdeen and the north-east of Scotland as a community has been so successful because it has always grasped the future, it has seen the opportunity, this was the most amazing opportunity for a revitalisation of Aberdeen city centre.
“It was a great development, it was going to attract massive support from benefactor Sir Ian Wood and keep business interests in the north-east of Scotland. What an opportunity. Communities around Scotland would be giving their eye teeth for such an opportunity and for the Labour party it seems pretty petty political purposes to turn against it. It seems a very bad decision looking at the long term interests of the people of Aberdeen and the people of Scotland.
He said the city did however have a “great future” and that some of these opportunities may come back in the future.
Funding
Businessman Sir Ian Wood had committed £50m towards the scheme to redevelop Union Terrace Gardens, while an anonymous £5m pledge had also been made.
A group of seven north-east businessman, including Stewart Milne and Aberdeen Asset Management chief executive Martin Gilbert, had vowed to raise another £15m towards the project.
The remaining cost was to be covered by a £92m TIF loan from the Scottish Futures Trust.
The money would also have been used to fund the redevelopment of St Nicholas House, Aberdeen Art Gallery and the North Denburn Valley as well as creating the City Circle pedestrian route project.
The business report said the TIF business case had the potential to unlock 6560 full-time jobs and an average of £115.1m per annum of economic growth over 25 years.
More than 85,000 people voted in a public referendum on the contentious project in March with 52% voting in favour of the project.
However the project faced an uncertain future when Labour, who had campaigned against the proposal, won the most seats at the council elections in May.
