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Uncertainty for businesses hit by Great Western Road closure

Great Western Road closed
Part of Great Western Road closed on Friday. Picture by Scott Baxter/ DC Thomson.

Businesses have hit out at a road closure which has left it near-impossible for customers to reach them.

A section of Great Western Road in Aberdeen was shut on Friday amid concern a three-storey building was in “imminent” danger of collapse.

The building, on the stretch between Craigton Road and Morningside Road, houses the Plastic Free Refill and Sustainable Lifestyle Shop and four flats.

There are problems with the steel beams that support the granite facade.

Aberdeen City Council has said the route will remain shut until it has been made safe, and posters in the area suggest it is unlikely to open before 9am on Saturday.

But businesses who have been cut off say they are disappointed at the lack of communication from the local authority.

‘They should have notified business owners’

The owner of Prestige the Laundry said she is “not happy” and that many of her customers have been complaining about there being no vehicle access to her shop

“They should have notified the business owners of what their intentions was. Nobody expected something like this to happen, but we should be kept informed. It would be nice to know what was happening.”

She described the car park outside of her laundrette, which is also used for Tesco Express and  Thyme Out coffee shop customers, as usually being “heaving”.

Today however it was very quiet, with it only being vehicles allowed to access their properties.

The business owner said that while the road remains closed it will result in a “total loss of business”.

Oor Wullie’s Braw Fish N Chips was initially affected by the closure, as the road from Great Western Road to Cranford Road was closed.

However, this has since been revised by the council.

Chip shop owner Craig Thomson said the changes have made it a “bit better”, acknowledging that the works will “just take time”.

‘Hopefully by next week we’ll be back’

Rosemary Planet, which is located in the building that is at risk of coming down and had to close on Friday, is moving next door to a former physiotherapists that is up for rent.

On a social media post, the sustainability lifestyle shop said: “Some preparations are being carried over from yesterday and hopefully by next week we’ll be back.”

North-east MSP Liam Kerr has expressed his concern at the road still being closed, saying: “Great Western Road is a main route between two busy parts of Aberdeen and is a lively neighbourhood in its own right.

“For the road to stay closed days later is a major concern, for residents and the businesses here.”

Council’s plans to mitigate risk

The closure is also affecting public transport in the area, with a local resident saying it is “disrupting all the buses, adding that it poses challenges for people that are “not very mobile”.

An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said: “Planning to mitigate the risk of building collapse are under way. The closure will remain in place until the building has been made safe to allow the road to reopen.”

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