Photo of George Street

Public consultation for draft George Street mini-masterplan starts

A public consultation to gather thoughts from residents, businesses, and visitors to George Street and nearby streets for a draft mini masterplan for the area has started.

Seven open-ended questions are being asked to help gather people’s thoughts, and local stakeholders are being contacted directly to take part in the consultation and on-going engagement.

It asks what the area is currently like to visit, live, work and shop in, and to know what changes people would like to see in any future plans for the area.

Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader Councillor Alex Nicoll said: “The six-week consultation is to be welcomed and I’d encourage people who live, work, shop, and visit the area to take part.

“We want people to bring forward proposals that will help promote development opportunities, reassess the place through their eyes, and promote George Street as a great neighbourhood where people want to be.”

The draft masterplan’s purpose is to present regeneration projects which support George Street as a ‘vibrant city centre community at the heart of reinvention’ and have been based on initial survey results and stakeholder engagement from last year.

The findings of the consultation will help the draft masterplan to be developed in detail before being presented to a council committee later this year.

People will be asked to consider that George Street is home to a diversity of communities and businesses in a bustling and lively part of the city centre yet, with the closure of John Lewis, the nearby Broadford Works remaining undeveloped, and the Bon Accord Shopping Centre being placed on the open market, there are increasing challenges in and around the area.

Creating a mini masterplan helps the George Street area identify its regeneration needs and helps to establish its connections into the city centre masterplan and beach area projects.

The city centre, new Aberdeen Market, Queen Street, and part of George Street projects are part of the City Centre Masterplan (CCMP), a regeneration blueprint which is transforming the city centre while conserving its proud heritage heritage.

Since it was approved in 2015, the CCMP has already delivered several achievements to date including completion of Provost Skene’s House, the completion of Aberdeen Art Gallery, the Music Hall, Marischal Square, and Broad Street. The regeneration of Union Terrace Gardens has provided a wheelchair-accessible multi-function space in the city centre park including a playpark for the first time.

The multi-million projects include streetscaping for Union Street and the creation of a new city market, and there is also a related masterplan to revitalise the beach area.

The public consultation for the George Street mini masterplan is available on the City Council’s website at George Street Draft Mini-Masterplan - Consultation - Aberdeen City Council - Citizen Space and runs until 28 April.

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