A drop-in consultation to gather information from residents and businesses in Belmont Street and nearby streets for a new permanent café culture in the area is being held next week.
The £1.5million investment in the Belmont Quarter area from Aberdeen City Council will help to grow city centre employment, create a metropolitan look which will develop as an attractive food and drink destination, and become a culturally distinctive neighbourhood that will enhance the conservation area.
The drop-in event includes two options for the area for what the café culture will look like – barrier outdoor seating with umbrellas which could be in place in late Autumn, or shelter structures which could be installed next Spring.
The two-day drop-in event, which is complemented by an online consultation, will also include operational plans for how the Belmont Quarter would work for deliveries, waste trucks, and other requirements depending on the design chosen.
The event will have designers and engineers on hand to answer queries, and there will also be council officers available from 2pm until 4pm each day to answer any specific licensing questions.
Both businesses and residents will continue to be consulted on the draft design over the coming weeks.
An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said: “It is fantastic to be able to have this drop-in event along with an online consultation and we’d encourage people who live and work in the Belmont Quarter area to come along, see what the two proposals are, and give feedback to the team.
“The café culture in the Belmont Quarter is just one of several exciting changes happening in the city centre and we look forward to what’s coming up in the months ahead.”
The city centre, new Aberdeen Market, and Queen Street projects are part of the City Centre Masterplan (CCMP), a regeneration blueprint which is transforming the city centre while conserving its proud heritage.
Since it was approved in 2015, the CCMP has already delivered several achievements to date including redevelopment of Provost Skene’s House, the redevelopment of Aberdeen Art Gallery, the Music Hall, Marischal Square, and Broad Street. The regeneration of Union Terrace Gardens will also provide a wheelchair-accessible multi-function space in the city centre park including a playpark for the first time.
A once-in-a-generation exciting transformative regeneration of Aberdeen’s city centre, former market, and beach front was also given the go-ahead at a council committee meeting last November.
The drop-in event is taking place in the Seminar Room, Level 2, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Schoolhill, on Tuesday 17 May and Wednesday 18 May, from 2pm until 5pm with council officers in attendance from 2pm to 4pm. Members of the public and businesses can either drop in or book an appointment in advance via www.streets-uk.com/belmont to talk to one of the team.
The proposals will also be online at www.streets-uk.com/belmont on Tuesday 17 May and people have until 27 May to submit comments.