Members of the public were given the opportunity to have their say on the future of Aberdeen city centre yesterday.
The first of a series of consultation events this week was held at the Academy shopping centre on Belmont Street.
Those attending were invited to share their opinions with a team of planners and architects, Building Design Partnership (BDP), which was selected by the city council to produce a “masterplan” for the future.
The consultation its taking place more than two years after the £140milion City Garden Project to redevelop Union Terrace Gardens was controversially scrapped.
City residents were asked to suggest changes and possible improvements they would like to see across the city centre.
Yesterday, Labour finance convener Willie Young said yesterday there was a “blank piece of paper” to work from.
The Bridge of Don ward member said: “The focus is absolutely not on the Union Terrace Gardens at all, but on a master plan for the city centre over the next 25 years.
“The debate about Union Terrace Gardens divided the city apart in a way I’ve never seen in my life, which is why it’s so important for us.
“The big mistake of the Lib Dems and SNP was to not let our voices at Labour be heard, so what we’ve done is to make sure everyone’s opinion is heard by creating a masterplan for the future of the city centre.
“This is why we’ve decided to start with a blank piece of paper, to hear everyone’s voices.
“We’re trying to get all the parties together, so that proposals and ideas aren’t left on the shelf at every election every five years.”
SNP councillor Bill Cormie said: “I spoke to a couple as they were leaving the consultation at the Academy today, and they were a bit disappointed that there weren’t more ideas there that weren’t their own.
“Anybody that has lived in Aberdeen for enough years will have seen a number of masterplans proposed that end up doing nothing, and I think that a lot of my constituents are fed up of masterplans.
“That being said, I think that it’s important for people to visit the consultation and put their views forward, and cross party support will be good.”
BDP director Kevin Murray will be discussing proposals with the public over the next three days.
He said: “What we try to do is say that yes, this is about the future, but we need to focus on it now.
“Aberdonians as a whole are quite well travelled, and I’ve had people proposing ideas that they have seen from all over the UK in places like London, Glasgow, and even abroad in places like Vienna.
“We’ve had a number of suggestions regarding Union Terrace Gardens, one in particular would be to make the Denburn once again flow through the gardens themselves.
“We’ve had a mix of people who want change and people who don’t, but the response overall has been positive.”
The consultation will run from 10am to 8pm on Thursday, 10am to 5pm on Friday, and 10am to 5pm on Saturday.
Following the first round of engagement, the BDP team is expected to return with some draft ideas later in the year, which will be presented to the public.
Next year, a “phased transformational masterplan” will be produced for the city centre, incorporating detailed proposals and a delivery programme.