City-centre traders have joined forces to fight plans for a multimillion-pound shopping development they fear will leave the heart of Aberdeen a “ghost town”.
Firms who own the Union Square, Bon Accord, St Nicholas and Trinity Centre malls are among those who have lodged objections to the expansion of Prime Four scheme at Kingswells.
The operators of the Capitol building and the Kittybrewster, Berryden and Beach Boulevard retail parks are also worried the 320,000sq ft development could deal a huge blow to their businesses and have joined the protest.
Local authority officials are due to decide on Wednesday whether to recommend the plan for approval or rejection by councillors.
Aberdeen City Council has proposals to invest hundreds of millions of pounds into improving infrastructure around the city centre as part of a masterplan to boost footfall and attract more traders.
In October, the Drum Property Group tabled plans to expand the Prime Four Business Park with a new shopping precinct beside the A944 junction of the new Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) at Kingswells.
The firm says the development will create up to 500 jobs.
But Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired – which represents more than 700 city-centre businesses – said: “It is our belief that this will certainly have an adverse effect on what, as we all know, is an already challenging trading environment.
“We strongly believe that we all need to get behind and, even more importantly, deliver on the transformation of our city centre, through the council’s masterplan.
“This is predicated on having strong public and private confidence, and with that, investment in the area.
“This application seems to be at odds with this strategic direction.”
A spokesman for BMO Real Estate Partners, owners of the Bon Accord and St Nicholas Centre said: “The out-of-town retail development proposal goes against everything that Aberdeen is trying to achieve through the city centre masterplan, and will undermine investor and retailer confidence in the heart of the city.”
But Andrew Turnbull, senior retail marketing lecturer at Robert Gordon University, said planners had to perform a “balancing act” to prevent the city centre becoming a “ghost town”.
He said: “Out-of-town retail is the way things are looking for the future but the council planners have to ensure that they find ways for business to stay in the city centre.”
A spokesperson for Drum Property said: “All our research shows that there is significant retailer and popular demand for high quality, accessible retail across both Aberdeen and the wider Aberdeenshire area.
“Prime Four is now firmly established as a major world energy centre and an award-winning development of local and national economic significance.
“The new proposals for a retail park form a logical extension to Prime Four, taking advantage of high accessibility by public transport, increasing choice and services, and building on the location’s status as a hub for business and leisure activity.
“Drum will invest more than £100million into the new retail park, and a development of this size will have a significant positive economic impact on the area at a very challenging time for the north-east economy.
“Retailers Next and Boots have already committed to the new park as tenants, with more major names to be announced very soon.”