A senior Aberdeen councillor has appealed to a retail expert to help the authority breathe new life into the city.
Last month, the “Queen of Shops”, Mary Portas, criticised Aberdeen City Council over the controversial Marischal Square development.
She wrote on social media it was “madness” for the £107million development to be built when, in her opinion, Union Street shops were falling into disrepair.
Now finance convener, Willie Young, has written to the TV guru asking for her input and opinion on how best to help revive the Granite Mile.
In his letter, Mr Young cited the difficulties faced by the local authority in rejuvenating the street when faced with competition from shopping centres.
He added: “There is no doubt that Union Street has suffered because of these shopping malls.
“As always, it is the council who gets blamed for the demise of an area despite planning regulations limiting powers of councils to stop development.
“The political administration within Aberdeen understands the need for change whilst at the same time trying to hold on to our heritage, and that is why we undertook a city centre masterplan.
“I enclose a copy of our masterplan for you to look at and perhaps provide comment on how best we can continue to bring forward regeneration of our city centre whilst at the same time encouraging retail on Union Street.
“I would be grateful if you could look at our masterplan and provide me with your observations on our proposals for Aberdeen, taking into consideration both Union Square’s proposals to double in size and the Marischal Square development which is well under way.”