City centres need to focus on being something more than retails centres if they are to thrive in the wake of the pandemic, according to Aberdeen planning experts.
Maggie Bochel and Pippa Robertson, owners of Aurora Planning, believe more needs to be done by Aberdeen City Council to support the recovery of the city centre.
And the granting of planning permission for more housing in the area is vital to help it “bounce back”.
They believe they are “up against it” with planning applications for change of use for city centre commercial properties to residential being refused.
The duo also claim the £150 million Aberdeen City Centre masterplan, which covers Union Street, the Castlegate, Beach Boulevard and the section of the Esplanade between the Queens Links and Accommodation Road, “hasn’t translated into consents being welcomed and encouraged.”
Ms Robertson said: “The city centre living thing is so important. The Aberdeen City Centre masterplan talks about that and recognises that but it hasn’t quite translated into consents being granted or being treated more positively. Or being welcomed and encouraged.
“It still feels like any applications we’ve had for city centre change of use to residential does really feel like we are up against it.”
It still feels like any applications we’ve had for city centre change of use to residential does really feel like we are up against it.”
Pippa Robertson
Prior to setting up Aurora with Ms Robertson, Ms Bochel spent 10 years as head of planning at the city council.
When asked how she felt about the impact Covid-19 has had on the city centre her emotions were clear.
She said: “The week that shops reopened I walked down Union Street to the townhouse and I had such a weird mix of emotions in that it was exciting see queues of people outside a few shops, but also wanting to cry about the number of things that were shutdown and never going to reopen. It was the mixture of ghost town in some places but quite vibrant and exciting in others.”
Aurora are currently working on two current change of use proposals in Aberdeen city centre area.
One is for affordable housing in Maberly Street and a change of use to residential in Albyn Place.
They have also just had a change of use for a shop to class 3 cafe/restaurant use approved in Union Street.
More housing and cafes to help keep Union Street vibrant
Ms Bochel, who is also vice-chair of regional transport body, Nestrans, believes there’s a definite need for more housing and cafes on Union Street.
She said: “I think the effect of Covid-19 has been huge for city centres and town centres.
“We have clients looking to put change of use for housing or for changing shops to cafes on Union Street and I think we need to help those things to happen.
“The more people that are living in the city centre the more we are going to be able to sustain the shops and the cafes that are left and support the new ones.
“It’s not going to be easy for any town in the city centre to bounce back.
It’s not going to be easy for any town in the city centre to bounce back.”
Maggie Bochel
“The loss of John Lewis was huge. People would come to Aberdeen to use John Lewis and other shops and services while they were there. If you’ve not got that draw anymore it’s very difficult.”
Both praised the work of Aberdeen Inspired and believe events such as Nuart should be encouraged.
Ms Bochel said: “City centres need to focus on being something other than retail centres. Cultural centres and places to live are all important.
“The problem is city centres were struggling before Covid and all Covid has done is accelerated that.”
The problem is city centres were struggling before Covid and all Covid has done is accelerated that.”
Maggie Bochel
They have noticed an increase in the amount of people looking for homes with outdoor space but they still believe city centre living is equally as important.
Ms Bochel said: “I think what coronavirus has done, and hopefully only for a short period of time, has made everyone think they want outdoor space.
“If you look at the flat market just now people are moving to the countryside because they think they want a garden.
“It’s always going to be harder to achieve the same levels of amenity in a city centre flat than it is in Countesswells for example.
“But if you choose to live in a city centre you know that so are you expecting the same level of garden space.”
Ms Robertson added: “Are you expecting to be in a city centre where you can walk to Union Terrace Gardens, to the pub, to the shops, the art gallery and see Nuart and all the other things that living in a city centre has to offer.
“That’s your amenity and amenity is about more than whether or not you’ve got a square of green grass outside your house.
I’m not knocking gardens as they are incredibly important but amenity takes more than one form. And I think that’s not really being recognised.”
Pippa Robertson
“I’m not knocking gardens as they are incredibly important but amenity takes more than one form. And I think that’s not really being recognised.”
The pair decided to launch Aurora Planning four years ago after meeting at law firm Burness Paull where they were both working.
Small planning consultancy of the year award winner
The decision has paid off with the firm recently being named Small Planning Consultancy of the Year in the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Awards for Planning Excellence 2021, the only Scottish company to be recognised.
They work with a broad range of clients from residential to large scale developers.
One of their most “exciting” projects to date was being involved in the Sutherland Spaceport which got the go-ahead in August last year.
And one of their more controversial was involvement in the approval for Canadian developer Carttera to build nearly 250 homes on the edge of Aberdeen’s famous Rubislaw Quarry.
Life-changing work for clients
Aurora also works for a number of charities and helped LGBT+ charity Four Pillars gain planning permission to open a new hub.
Ms Robertson said: “Helping our clients to navigate the planning process that can often be seen as quite complex and very emotive for a lot of people.
“No one had done a spaceport before so that was exciting but we can get equally as excited about some of the smaller projects.
“A lot of decisions can be life-changing for some people.
“To help Four Pillars was fantastic not only for the charity but the service users.”