Union Street will reopen to traffic within weeks despite dire warnings the city centre’s survival depends upon pedestrianisation.
During a stormy Aberdeen City Council meeting, which stretched beyond 10 hours, elected members clashed over how best to revive the tired Granite Mile.
Eventually, they voted 23-22 in favour of removing the pedestrianisation measures put in place during the pandemic.
In allowing buses and taxis back onto the central section, councillors undid a decision thought to have been sealed last November.
All four lanes of the carriageway will be open, but signage will be put in place to remind drivers that it is only for certain vehicles.
Department store demolition will hold up Union Street changes
However, the closure won’t be lifted for at least 12 weeks, while lanes are restricted due to the demolition of the old BHS building.
The decision leaves the long-term pedestrianisation plans in the city centre hanging by a thread.
Earlier in the day, councillors had been shown an eye-opening graphic video outlining how a traffic-free city centre of the future could look:
One Town House insider told the P&J that the plans are now likely to be “off the table” despite there being further meetings about the city centre in June and August.
They said: “Whatever happens, if they want to pedestrianise they will have to start again once it’s open to buses.
“The closure due to Covid presented the perfect opportunity and once people get used to buses travelling through again it will be more difficult.
“It looks like, unless a new administration puts it back on the table, it is off the table.”
During the meeting, opposition councillors and former city centre masterplan lead Marie Boulton argued strongly in favour of some vehicular access remaining into the future.
They claim public transport access is vital so that disabled and elderly residents can reach Union Street.
That could mean the previously approved vision for a completely traffic-free Union Street faces an uncertain future as the revamp moves closer.
Aberdeen councillors in tense showdown over Union Street
Tonight’s decision on the short-term future of the Market Street to Guild Street stretch comes amid growing frustration from many about the prolonged closure.
More than 2,500 people have signed a petition calling for the immediate lifting of the remaining temporary Covid physical distancing closures in the weeks before the crunch talks.
But administration councillors pleaded with their political rivals to stay the course and back the existing plans.
‘Union Street resembled a bus park before…’
Aberdeen Labour member Sarah Duncan said that supporting the SNP’s crusade to reopen Union Street would show “a lack of ambition and a lack of imagination” for the city.
She added: “You will be going backwards when we want to be going forwards.
“We won’t be going into a future where Aberdeen’s future is inclusive and vibrant…
“Union Street resembled a bus park before it was shut for Covid reasons, young people want to embrace openness.”
Conservative finance convener Ryan Houghton implored his fellow councillors to “help us take the city forwards”.
‘Council leaders made city centre inaccessible’
SNP councillor Alex McLellan secured the fresh debate on the hot topic after previous attempts to reopen discussion were kiboshed.
He stressed that the Spaces for People measures brought in to create more room for physical distancing were “supposed to be temporary”.
Mr McLellan added: “That presented the perfect opportunity to reimagine and rebuild our city centre.
“However the administration have created a city centre that is inaccessible to large swathes of the population.
“It is not about choosing between our masterplan or bus access, we are not suggesting it goes back to the way it was.”
Councillor produced dossier to illustrate her point
Mrs Boulton backed the opposition while waving in the air a copy of the Aberdeen City Centre Masterplan which was signed off in the same chamber in 2015.
She pointed out that the vision for the future then agreed showed “bicycles, buses and taxis” still using the main thoroughfare.
The independent councillor added that she would expect traffic to “operate in a respectful manner” around pedestrians.
And she argued that mounting fines for people caught driving through banned parts of town show that “people need to move around our city”.
The meeting took place after Granite City property gurus sounded a warning about going back on previously agreed pedestrianisation plans.
Derren McRae, head of Aberdeen office at CBRE said it would be a devastating blow to reverse the decision made before Christmas.
He believes permanent pedestrianisation could be the start of enticing firms back into our high street.
Longer-term future of Union Street also came under scrutiny
The decision to reopen Union Street came hours after all 45 councillors staged an impassioned debate on the future of the city centre.
They had been urged by officers to plough ahead with the massive plans which were agreed by a handful of members at the end of last year.
Council leader Jenny Laing and Lord Provost Barney Crockett made speeches pleading for their rivals not to “kick the can down the road” at a time when the heart of Aberdeen is struggling like never before.
Mrs Boulton stressed that this was “not a political battle for her”, as she was fighting for “those who have no choice” but to rely on public transport to reach Union Street.
She added: “It’s a battle for my city and my city’s future.”
Earlier in the meeting, Mrs Boulton had succeeded in pushing through a raft of changes to the project agreed last year.
She won a vote with the support of SNP and Liberal Democrat councillors, along with Tory rebel Philip Bell.
As a result, council top brass will now have to “develop detailed designs” and report back to a meeting of the full council for approval in August.
‘Take a look at Union Street, there are no shops!’
Council leader Jenny Laing suggested that Mrs Boulton had “been used” by opposition councillors “unwilling to come forward with their own proposals”.
She added: “Just look at Union Street, there are no shops!
“That won’t be solved by buses going on there, it will be solved by businesses wanting to set up in those empty units.”
The decision came as a raft of other measures were driven forward.
Councillors will press on with plans to bring buildings on Union Street up to scratch and to nurture cafe culture on Belmont Street.
Tense exchange over language
Tempers flared during the meeting when the SNP’s John Cooke suggested that pressing on with the plans would be “chucking the elderly and disabled under a bus, only the bus isn’t there”.
Convener Barney Crockett, perhaps still bristling after being challenged when he accused rivals of using people with disabilities as “a human shield” during November’s crunch meeting, snapped back.
The Lord Provost said: “I deprecate that language, I think that’s despicable.”