Major Aberdeen business figures are urging the city council to press on with transforming Union Street and the beach – despite what one prominent lobbyist branded “groups hell bent on sabotaging progress”.
Russell Borthwick, the chief executive of Aberdeen And Grampian Chamber Of Commerce, has encouraged the council’s city growth (finance) committee to back pedestrianisation of the Granite Mile and huge investment in the beach – both aimed at bringing the city back from the brink after Covid.
Recent research carried out by his organisation found, on average, north-east residents rated their appetite for big projects and change at eight out of 10.
Councillors will tomorrow make decisions on proposals for a new market – now with a revised £50m price tag – in Union Street, pedestrianisation for a new market in Union Street, pedestrianisation of the surrounding Market Street to Bridge Street stretch, as well as road changes around the bus and train stations and in Schoolhill and Upperkirkgate.
Proposals for a facelift of the beach area, including a new stadium to keep Aberdeen FC in the centre of town, are also up for discussion.
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In a letter to councillors, Mr Borthwick highlighted the woes of bricks and mortar retail – witnessed in Aberdeen with the demise of seemingly-perennial businesses such as Debenhams and John Lewis – and urged them to back the £150m ‘refresh’ of a city centre masterplan which has already brought about the revamp of Aberdeen Art Gallery, Union Terrace Gardens, Provost Skene’s House and the construction of Marischal Square.
“Decisions taken now will determine whether our city centres, places that should be the beating heart of our communities, recover strongly or become concrete deserts, museums to a bygone age. Time is of the essence and we urge you to support these ambitious proposals.
“There are groups hell-bent on sabotaging our progress. Whinging, complaining, protesting, slowing. Their default position is ‘No’. ‘Ye shall not change’. It is a noisy but small minority.
“Of course it’s important that we take on board the view of key stakeholders to ensure the widest possible buy-in and that the final design details work for the majority but this cannot be a barrier to progress.”
The plans have received public backing from the business improvement district chief Adrian Watson, who said the “majority” of his city centre levy payers backed the plans.
Far from universal buy-in on the Aberdeen city centre plans
But moves to permanently ban buses from accessing their seven busiest Aberdeen stops has left more than half of First Bus passengers threatening to abandon the once-proud shopping street if pedestrianisation goes ahead.
They are not alone in their concern – with Aberdeen City Disability Equity Partnership requesting to speak at tomorrow’s meeting to ensure “meaningful, transparent and wide-ranging engagement and consultation” on the plans with disabled people.
Hussein Patwa, the group’s registered blind expert witness who also suffers from chronic pain, revealed “anxieties” centring around the pedestrianisation of the central stretch of Union Street.
Despite the input of Aberdeen Inspired’s chief executive Adrian Watson, two board members have also contacted the council to press them to push on with the change.
The strip of Union Street in question has already been “temporarily” closed for the last year and a half, as part of physical distancing works in the city.
Property chief: Pedestrianisation of Aberdeen city centre would boost development of empty Union Street flats
Derren McRae, head of CBRE Aberdeen, said the promise of a pedestrianised Union Street was key in convincing a “major energy company” to move the city centre – with Shell announcing a return to the Granite Mile from Altens in September.
He also revealed: “We do also receive feedback from developers that they would be prepared to commit to redeveloping some of the eyesore empty upper floors of Union Street if a more pedestrian-friendly environment was created at the entrance to these buildings, instead of coming out to narrow pavements often with busy bus stops in close proximity.
“Extending the pavements on the remainder of Union Street would certainly help encourage developers to invest in these challenging properties.
“The global pandemic has given the public of Aberdeen a taster of how cafe culture could work successfully in the city centre and if this can become a permanent fixture on Union Street then I would certainly have more confidence in securing occupiers for the numerous vacant properties we continue to market.”
Staycationing boom has already shown an appetite to visit Aberdeen, says hotel chairman
Frank Whitaker, chairman of the Aberdeen City And Shire Hotels Association and fellow Aberdeen Inspired board member, also pressed home the importance of the vote.
“I urge you not to be distracted by the many views, publicly made, about Spaces for People (temporary physical distancing project),” he said.
“Your decisions this week should not be influenced by what people say about the colour of cones or the temporary measures that
have been in place as a result of the pandemic.
“Your decisions are all about the future of the city centre in the decades to come.
“The environment in which we live and work has to improve if we’ve any chance of seeing a significant and sustainable change to Aberdeen as a destination.”
Mr Whitaker drew attention to a 19% bump in weekend revenues in the city’s hotel between August and October, compared to the same period in 2019.
This he put down to the challenges of travelling abroad and higher number of people ‘staycationing’.
He added: “It demonstrates, with the right conditions, the potential of Aberdeen as a strong destination.
“Hopefully we will not see the conditions that drove this particular demand again, so a repeat of these exceptional numbers is unlikely without the right interventions to create the right environment.”