Decision details

(i)       to note that the review of the City Centre Masterplan 2015 is not an exercise to replace or supersede the CCMP, but rather look at a number of priority intervention areas, within scope;

(ii)       to approve the City Centre Masterplan 2015 Review and project recommendations as detailed in Appendix A Section 3 and acknowledge the projects that have been completed since the approval of the CCMP in 2015, that a number of others are well underway, and that others are not within the control of Aberdeen City Council at this time and require partnership working with other stakeholders;

(iii)      to note the high level of response to the recent public engagement exercise on the future of the City Centre, the priority projects which scored the highest as part of this exercise, and the responses received on what it would take to attract people back into the City Centre in the short-term (Appendix A Section 2) and instruct the Director of Resources to publish the results online;

(iv)      to note the indicative visioning exercise for current City Centre interventions areas on Union Street, the West End, Castlegate, and Schoolhill/Upperkirkgate and instruct the Director of Resources to develop these indicative works to detailed design stage including costing, delivery timelines and consultation with key stakeholders, residents and traders in the area for:

(1)    Redesign of Union Street Central streetscape, complete with consideration of the associated changes to the surrounding transport network to facilitate the project as envisaged in Appendix A section12;

(2)    Union Street West and West End as envisaged in Appendix A section 12;

(3)    Union Street East and Castlegate (linked to accessibility studies and design work for the Beach Masterplan) as envisaged in Appendix A section 12;

(4)    Schoolhill and Upperkirkgate as envisaged in Appendix A section 12; and

(5)    Undertake key stakeholder engagement to inform the design for each of the above projects, and report progress to the City Growth and Resources Committee on 3 November 2021;

(v)      to agree that George Street be subject to its own public engagement exercise, and instruct the Director of Commissioning to report back progress to the City Growth and Resources Committee in November 2021;

(vi)      Agrees that in light of the instruction to proceed with detailed design for the redesign of Union Street Central streetscape, to support businesses as we emerge out of the pandemic and noting correspondence from the Scottish Government (dated 15 July 2021) in respect of continuation of special measures to enable the erection of temporary buildings by the hospitality sector, and that guidance on such has been extended to 31 March 2022, instruct the Chief Officers of Capital and Operations and Protective Services to:

(1)    Maintain current arrangements for the approval of temporary outdoor trading proposals until 23:59 on 24 January 2022;

(2)    Reopen Bon Accord Street after the current extension of outdoor seating lapses at the end of January 2022, subject to ongoing considerations regarding the programme of works surrounding South College Street which require earlier reopening;

(3)    Schedule the removal of Spaces for People Interventions from West End (Thistle Street, Chapel Street, Rose Street)  following removal works of previous scheduled Spaces for People intervention removals;

(4)    Union Street and Belmont Zone Spaces for People interventions to remain until a permanent design and transport mitigation is agreed at the meeting of this committee in November;

(5)    The use of green spaces, carparks, parks, roads, etc. by private businesses for outdoor trading to cease from 23:59 on 24 January 2022 or to be regularised through the appropriate processes; and

(6)    Instruct the Chief Officers of Operations and Protective Services, Governance, Corporate Landlord and Strategic Place Planning to explore options to align the consenting process for businesses who may wish to make permanent any existing outdoor trading, including any necessary management, leasing arrangements and upkeep of public spaces, and report back to this committee in November 2021;

(vii)     to agree that the public transport network is the key to maximising mass sustainable movement of people to and from the City Centre, and that changes to Union Street (and any others) which (pre-COVID 19) supported bus services, will require mitigation to protect and enhance the bus experience as part of the COVID recovery plan as well as the City Centre Masterplan review, and that this accords with the recent Bus Partnership Fund bid (subject to a separate report to this Committee);

(viii)    to instruct the Chief Officer - Strategic Place Planning to develop a Traffic Management Plan to support the City Centre Masterplan Review in consultation with the bus operators and in collaboration with the Chief Officers of Operations and Capital and report this back to the City Growth and Resources Committee in November 2021;

(ix)      in response to issues raised by the public consultation simulator, instruct the Director of Resources to:-

(1)    Undertake a visual building condition survey and recommend improvement measures, including costs, constraints, methodologies and an implement programme for all properties on Union Street reporting back to City Growth and Resources Committee in November on the progress;

(2)    Develop detailed design proposals to create a permanent café culture in the Belmont Street and Back Wynd area in consultation with key stakeholders, residents and traders in the area reporting back to City Growth and Resources Committee in November on the progress;

(3)    Investigate the possibility of Council-owned land allowing permanent outdoor areas to promote café culture reporting back to City Growth and Resources Committee in November on the progress; and

(4)    Investigate installing outdoor seating outside Aberdeen Art Gallery as a first phase delivery of café culture; and

(x)      to approve the changes to Appendix A as follows:- (a) EC09 Mither Kirk (to a short/medium time frame); (b) the addition of a definition for short/medium/long terms; (c) ensuring wheelchair access throughout the city centre; (d) the addition of Granite Noir; and (e) improving connectivity between Schoolhill and the Denburn.