A university professor has said he hopes his students can re-ignite the debate on how to makeover the centre of Peterhead.
Aberdeenshire Council has been leading ongoing efforts to regenerate the centre of the town, encouraging participation from retailers and residents.
Now community leaders are discussing inviting submissions from architectural students.
Robert Gordon University’s Professor Gokay Deveci told the Press and Journal his students are enthusiastic about getting involved.
Prof Deveci said: “What the students can offer is new and exciting ideas. They’re not bound to the politics of planning.
“Those different ideas are not necessarily practical, but ideas create debate. That’s what the students can offer.
“They will be overseen by professionals like myself so it’s not completely up in the air, but we also don’t want restrictions of planning. That’s why nothing happens, so to speak, you just end up going in circles.”
The area of Peterhead at the centre of this debate is Drummers Corner, a precinct in the heart of the town.
Earlier this year, RGU student Andrew Stewart, 23, was awarded a national prize for his re-imagination of the town’s famous harbour.
Several of Mr Stewart’s peers also unveiled a large scale model of the town, built as part of a two-year “robust towns” project.
The idea of bringing the scale model, as well as inviting students to contribute their ideas for the town, was discussed at Wednesday’s meet of Peterhead Community Council.
Chairman John Brownlee said: “There’s a proposal to ask RGU students to come up with some ideas.
“Some people like the Drummers Corner area, others don’t. The trouble is it’s a drafty corner but certainly an interesting site.
“It’s worth seeing what the students have to say.”
Mr Brownlee added that development group Peterhead Projects was working to bring the model to the town but that, due to its size, the move was “impractical”.
A video display of the design has now been mooted.
