AN appeal to raise ￡500,000 ($625,000) from oil and gas companies to redesign public gardens in Aberdeen commemorating the Piper Alpha disaster in which 167 North Sea workers died have been branded "an insult" by a survivor's daughter. The Pound for Piper Memorial Trust charity recently asked industry to help fund plans to redesign rose gardens in the city's Hazlehead Park that are home to the permanent memorial to the 6 July 1988 tragedy. At the centre of the gardens is a monument created by artist Sue Jane Taylor featuring statues of three North Sea workers that was unveiled on the third anniversary of the disaster - still the world's deadliest offshore accident - in 1991. The trust announced plans last week to increase the number and variety of plants in the gardens, add new paths, seating, lawn areas and information boards about the history of the tragedy, the garden and the work of the trust. But Iona Ballantyne, whose father Bob Ballantyne was one of the 61 people who escaped from the platform after it was rocked by explosion after a gas leak, has hit out at the lack of consultation with the families of victims and survivors and about the plans. She also pointed out that survivors and their families faced difficulties in the aftermath of the tragedy to raise funds for the memorial.
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