Union Street: Council too broke to tackle the rogue building owners making Granite Mile grotty

Planners have no budget to tackle illegal work and buildings in disrepair along the Granite Mile. But could collective effort led by the Union Street taskforce save everyone involved from a fight?

By Alastair Gossip

May 28 2023, 6:00 am

Caffe Nero and 73-79 Union Street. Image: Alastair Gossip/DCT Media.

Union Street could become an ungovernable, overgrown Wild West for city planners – unless they are backed to restore law and order.

The cash-strapped council department has been left powerless to enforce the rules on Aberdeen’s famous Granite Mile, as plants sprout from unkempt buildings.

Unauthorised work is being left unchallenged, officials have revealed, as there is no money to fight wayward property owners.

Attention on Union Street is at an all-time high as the city struggles to bring traders back to the mat.

But toothless planning enforcers are unable to do anything to force proprietors to rectify illegal work along the crumbling high street due to their pennilessness.

Why has Union Street planning enforcement become ‘paused in perpetuity’?

Over the last year there have been 12 enforcement notices issued in Aberdeen.

Another three are being prepared, while 88 other concerns reported between last April and this March are still being looked at.

Courts can fine landowners up to £20,000 for ignoring them.

Aberdeen planning enforcement staff issued a notice for 339 Union Street. The ground floor is occupied by Chicks 'n' Wings. Image: Alastair Gossip/DC Thomson. — Aberdeen planning enforcement staff issued a notice for 339 Union Street. The ground floor is occupied by Chicks ‘n’ Wings. Image: Alastair Gossip/DC Thomson.

And in the meantime, the council can bring properties back in line with planning regulations.

Owners would be handed the eventual bill for the work but the city would have to fund it initially.

It’s the upfront cost of this direct action that chief planner David Dunne warns is the “most significant issue” staff face.

“The enforcement team has sought to obtain quotes from other services to rectify breaches, but has been advised that there are no monies available,” he reported to councillors.

“A number of enforcement cases therefore remain paused in perpetuity, where no further action can be taken.”

A rogue sign for Ambal's restaurant and plants sprouting from the roof above 167 Union Street is being looked at by Aberdeen's planning enforcement officers. Image: Alastair Gossip/DC Thomson. — A rogue sign for Ambal’s restaurant and plants sprouting from the roof above 167 Union Street is being looked at by Aberdeen’s planning enforcement officers. Image: Alastair Gossip/DC Thomson.

While making the case for a budget to begin to take the fight for Union Street to the property owners, he has not directly asked for a war chest.

But if money were put up, Mr Dunne said planning enforcement would make a “small but significant contribution” to addressing Aberdeen’s neglected main street.

WANTED: 12 Union Street buildings could face planning enforcement action

Since April 2022, more than 60% of 226 suspected planning breaches in the city have been resolved without the need for formal action.

Union Street and the city’s conservation areas are given special attention by the enforcement team.

Work on the B-listed 120 Union Street, which now houses Arcadia Bar and Games, began without planning permission. Image: Chris Sumner/DC Thomson

And 12 Granite Mile buildings were subject to the keen eyes of city planning officers last year.

Rogue signage at 339 – Chicks ‘n’ Wings – was the only breach to result in an enforcement notice.

Prompted by planners, the owners of Soul at 333, Merkur Slots at 181A and Arcadia Bar and Games (in the former Espionage nightclub) at 120 brought themselves back in line with the rules.

A further eight properties are still being scrutinised for unapproved signs or plants sprouting from roofs and gutters.

Vegetation and grotty granite is being considered by city planners - who have little avenue to enforce the rules themselves. Image: Alastair Gossip/DC Thomson. — Roof vegetation and grotty granite at 253 Union Street is being considered by city planners – who have little avenue to enforce the rules themselves. Image: Alastair Gossip/DC Thomson.

Among them are two phone repair shops, a vaping outlet, McDonald’s and the building which until mid-May housed Caffe Nero on the corner of Market Street.

Could new taskforce help avoid pistols at dawn?

Scores of worried business chiefs and decision-makers packed into the Douglas Hotel ballroom last November as concerns over what has become of Union Street came to a head.

There, an idea was floated to form a business coalition to try and fill the many empty shops along the dilapidated main street.

High-flying business leader Bob Keiller took on the task – “If I don’t, who will?” he asked – to head up Our Union Street.

And he proposed collectivism could be a way forward to keep Granite Mile proprietors out of court.

Bob Keiller. Image: Scott Baxter/DC Thomson

Mr Keiller told The P&J: “Maybe that could help to reduce the cost to owners and get the jobs done together.

“I understand the council’s difficulties.

“Anything we can do to relieve some of the pressure on public resources – and increase the likelihood of getting work done on the street – has to be worth considering.”

He also raised the possibility of helping Union Street shop owners replace non-compliant signs to avoid planning enforcement action altogether.

In 2021, surveyors estimated it would cost £11 million to restore the city’s main thoroughfare to its former glory.

Nearly £4.9m of that was on repairing shopfronts and bringing about long-absent uniformity to premises up and down its length.