A public consultation has been launched on the Aberdeen city centre and beachfront masterplan.
It comes as a result of Covid-19, with residents being asked how their views on the areas have changed due to the pandemic.
The £150 million plans, which were first agreed in 2015, will look to reinvigorate the areas and also better link the city centre with the beachfront through the creation of active travel routes, increased use of the built and natural assets of the areas, and improvements to key streets such as Union Street.
The blueprint has also prompted preliminary discussions between Aberdeen City Council, Sport Aberdeen and Aberdeen Football Club to understand the scope of land that could become available as part of the plans. It comes following the Dons’ chairman, Dave Cormack, saying that the club would be ‘open to exploring’ the possibility of building their new stadium at a beachfront site, rather than the previously planned Kingsford site.
The consultations will ask respondents to allocate points to indicate how important a specific planned improvement area is. The specific areas for the city centre include Union Street, the west end, Schoolhill/Upperkirkgate/Belmont Street, and the Castlegate.
Respondents will also be asked to consider potential improvement projects in these areas and the expected impact of these is also given. For the beach, people are asked to consider sports and leisure activities, public spaces including connection to the city centre, and the Beach Ballroom.
Aberdeen City Council city centre masterplan spokesperson, councillor Marie Boulton, said, “We are committed to ensuring that our city centre and beach are places that the people of Aberdeen are proud of and enjoy spending time in. We also want to make sure our city and beach front are both attractive and enjoyable places for people to visit and invest in.
“It is important to reflect on what we have achieved and what we still have to do but we must also consider what we have learned over the past year – one important task is to consider how our city can be suitable for all regardless of your mobility or age.
“I’d encourage everyone to take part in this consultation and it’s vitally important we understand what the public’s priorities are as part of the review into the city centre masterplan and the beach.”
The public consultation can be accessed by clicking here.
