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BRYAN COPLAND: How about finishing Dundee Waterfront before we demolish anything else?

It's nearly a decade since Bryan Copland first reported on the plans for Dundee Waterfront. So what's happened to all that promise?

photo shows weeds growing out of an empty site in front of the V&A Dundee at the Waterfront.
Much of Dundee Waterfront is still failing to live up to the artists' impressions.

It was nine years ago this month that my ears and eyes lit up as council chiefs set out their detailed vision for Dundee’s Waterfront to me.

“In buildings of up to six or seven storeys, the ground floors will be ‘alive’ with shops, bars and restaurants – making the Waterfront a destination in the day and at night,” my story read.

“Other businesses will then occupy commercial, hotel and office space, bringing about 4,800 jobs to the area.”

I’d been in my Evening Telegraph council reporter role a matter of weeks.

It couldn’t have been a more interesting time.

image shows the writer Bryan Copland next to a quote: "Dundee Waterfront remains largely a building site without the building work."

Within months, the old railway station and Olympia had been demolished – later replaced by sparkly new buildings and the spectacular V&A Dundee.

The completion of Slessor Gardens, which quickly became a major events venue, followed soon after.

New offices opened on Site 6 – perhaps less inspiring than the rest, but progress nonetheless.

Locals donned their sunglasses to welcome a new urban beach.

photo shows Dundee City Council leader John Alexander wearing yellow framed sunglasses and sitting on a blue deckchair with Dundee written on it.
Dundee City Council leader John Alexander was one of those forecasting a bright future for the Waterfront. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DCT Media.

And proposals emerged to transform Site 2, currently home to the Yeaman Shore car park, into ‘Studio Dundee‘ – featuring workshop spaces, apartments and retail units.

Dundee needs to finish what it started at the Waterfront

I had stepped into an editing role by then, but it was still the job of my team to report on all of this.

We were never stuck for Waterfront stories: Dundee was alive with new and exciting developments.

photo shows a double page spread on the Dundee Waterfront redevelopment in the Evening Telegraph in November 2013.
Bryan’s special report on the Dundee Waterfront from the Evening Telegraph in November 2013.

Then everything seemed to stop.

We can’t pretend Covid, and the economic fallout from Brexit and Ukraine, haven’t got in the way.

But with ideas now emerging for other parts of Dundee – featuring suggestions like the Wellgate’s demolition – it makes you question how focused we are on the task already in hand.

Of course the Wellgate end of town is a major concern; large areas of that shopping centre are now empty with no apparent prospect of revival.

We need to discuss its long-term future.

exterior of Wellgate Centre, Dundee
The Wellgate, as it looks today.
What the Murraygate could look like if the Wellgate was knocked down
And how that part of the city might look if the Wellgate is demolished as part of new plans being considered. Image: Dundee City Council.

But what happens there is a consideration for another day.

Dundee needs to finish what it started.

Dundee Waterfront – some successes but still a lot of empty spaces

In the interests of fairness, I should point out that the Dundee Waterfront redevelopment – once valued at £1 billion – has not stood entirely still in the last few years.

Slessor Gardens is now a regular concert venue and will soon host the returning Winterfest, with its inevitable economic boost.

Ideas for an e-sports arena have emerged and we’ve even had suggestions for a new concert venue.

photo shows a large audience at Slessor Gardens watching Paloma Faith.
The crowd at Slessor Gardens for this summer’s Paloma Faith concert. Image: Alan Richardson.
artist's impression of a large e-sports arena at Dundee Waterfront, with Slessor Gardens, the V&A Dundee and office buildings behind.
How the proposed e-sports arena might fit in to the wider Dundee Waterfront. Image: ADP Architecture.

But the events are temporary – and the permanent bits still seem a long way away.

Dundee Waterfront remains largely a building site without the building work.

Property agent Ryden is still marketing seven sizable Waterfront plots to would-be developers. That’s a lot of land.

Due to oft-cited “commercial confidentiality”, the public will never get told exactly how much interest there has been in these sites from investors.

Maybe there’s been progress behind the scenes – but the lack of physical work suggests otherwise.

artist's impression of modern, seven-storey Studio Dundee building with cyclists, pedestrians and trees in foreground.
Studio Dundee proposals for ‘Site Two’ at Dundee Waterfront were due to get underway in 2019
Photo shows weeds growing out of a wide open piece of land next to the V&A Dundee and Agnes Husband House at Dundee Waterfront.
A second office block is planned for Site 6 at Dundee Waterfront, but the site is uninviting in its current state. Image: Kim Cessford / DCT Media.

The aforementioned Site 2 is among those still available. Studio Dundee has never come to fruition and it remains a car park.

It’s one of the smallest plots available. If we can’t shift that, is there any hope for the others?

Will next nine years be more productive than the last nine?

The Waterfront transformation has always been described as a 30-year project, running until 2031.

photo shows Bryan Copland and Alan Watt, Dundee Waterfront development coordinator, seated at a desk looking at plans in 2013
Bryan Copland as a fresh-faced reporter, with Alan Watt, Dundee Waterfront development coordinator, in 2013.

That leaves nine years – the same amount of time since I wrote that article – for the city to achieve its ambitions.

Too much time and money has been invested in the Waterfront for it not to be a success.

So never mind what Dundee might look like in 2050.

Let’s focus on 2031 first, or the Waterfront will never be “alive” with people and businesses.

It’s struggling for breath at times, as it is.


Bryan Copland leads The Courier’s Live News team.

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