LOS ANGELES: Annie Lennox is urging locals in her hometown of Aberdeen, Scotland to protest against plans to turn a park into a civic square.

The former Eurythmics singer is asking Scottish citizens to back a campaign to halt plans to convert Union Terrace Gardens into a modernised city centre.

In a post on her MySpace blog, Lennox writes, "For me, Union Terrace Gardens was, and still is the green historical heart of the city.

"Like so many towns and cities all over the country, Aberdeen lost a great deal of its architectural heritage and charm through destruction by bulldozer and concrete.

"It made me sad then, and it still makes me sad. I hoped that this kind of 'vandalism' had peaked in the 60s and 70s, but for Aberdeen, it seems to be back with vengeance. What idiocy and madness.

"Aberdeen is your home town. Are you going to sit back, and do nothing while its beautiful historic centre gets ripped out and concreted over? It's down to you to stop this happening."

A chairman for the Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future (ACSEF) insists the area will combine greenery with modern buildings.

Tom Smith says, "ACSEF has repeatedly stated that the City Square project aims to create a new civic space and gardens with an iconic arts centre as its centrepiece.

"The claims by objectors that it will be a flat, concrete square... are as misleading as their statement that it will be full of shops and car-parking. We will be happy to show Ms Lennox our proposals so she has these facts."