Proposed office block makes no sense

Sir, – It appears once again Dundee City Council are flexing their dictatorial muscles, and again ‘tell’ us what is happening regarding the V&A Museum (December 13).

After pushing through an alteration to the previously announced site – which was partially on the water – to on land, and after accepting the increase in costs from £45 million to £80m, they now wish to ruin it all by blocking the view of the building itself.

Looking down Union Street, the V&A has become a familiar sight that would draw people to the waterfront; the building is interesting and complimented by the new rail station, with Discovery Point and the RRS Discovery between the two.

Now the V&A building is an established view in Dundee, and part of the city centre just as planned, we find the city council have collectively gone against the wishes of the population and are about to obliterate the view of the Kengo Kuma design, blocking it with an uninteresting, featureless office block.

The council says the new facility will bring jobs to Dundee and there are no other suitable sites for it. I think they said the same thing about the Technology Park, which remains almost empty to this day. The Caledonian House at the Greenmarket is almost empty, as is the Nethergate Business Centre.

An office block in the city centre will need staff, who will need parking spaces, and will create more peak time traffic.

Riverside Drive is already a bottleneck, as is Dock Street. Where is the intellegent future planning and thinking?

It seems Dundee City Council are to make the V&A viewable to the people of Fife, and from the Tay bridges.

The only people who will not have a realistic view are the people of Dundee.

Standing up close to a building is not the way to appreciate a landmark.

If the council’s executive director of city development Mike Galloway cannot see alternatives, apart from the most congested area, then perhaps he is missing the point of making the waterfront an attraction and linking it with the city centre.

The first and most important consideration is that traffic congestion causes pollution and discourages pedestrians.

That was the whole idea of pedestrianising our city centre.

In the 18th Century the city council of Dundee were known, sarcastically, as ‘The Right Ones’ because they did not listen to anyone outside of their cartel. It looks like this attitude prevails to this day, with a featureless office block hiding an attractive landmark.

Arthur G. Gall. 14D Pitalpin Court, Dundee.

An artist’s impression of the controversial proposed office block.