Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Who comes up with these ‘bright’ ideas?’: Readers react to plan to light up Aberdeen city centre

The local authority's proposal to give Aberdeen a Spectra makeover all year round has sparked debate among Press and Journal readers.

Image show Aberdeen brighten up with Spectra lights. The spirit of Spectra could light up Aberdeen city centre throughout the year. Image Calum Stuart
The spirit of Spectra could light up Aberdeen city centre throughout the year. Image Calum Stuart

Readers have not held back their views on the new plans to light up Aberdeen city centre throughout the year.

It comes as Aberdeen City Council revealed its proposal to channel the popular Spectra lights festival all year round.

Stretching from the Castlegate area to Union Street, the ‘Aberdeen City Vision’ project aims to make the Granite City safer, attract tourism and help local businesses.

It would see the city centre brighten up with ulti-glow asphalt, illuminated trees and lit up cycling lanes.

But the glowing idea, although welcomed by some, has also sparked heavy criticism among many P&J readers.

Described by a few as “a positive addition” to the city centre, the dazzling project has also been labelled as a “waste of money”.

Year-round spectra could be ‘wonderful’

Stella Strachan said that to see the city centre brighten up throughout the year “would be wonderful,” while Craig Collie described it as an “interesting” idea.

Gregor McAbery argued that the plans sound like “a very positive addition to our city centre”.

Alison Crowder described it as “a great idea” while Bruce Morrison said the proposal “sounds good”.

Plans show proposed lights for Union Street and Belmont Street as part of the 'Aberdeen City Vision' project.
A “feature lighting strategy” could be used for Union Street and Belmont Street. Image: Buro Happold
Lights illuminate the historic St Nicholas Kirk Colonnade.
A series of lights would illuminate the historic St Nicholas Kirk Colonnade. Image: Aberdeen Inspired.

Aberdeen city centre lights a ‘waste of taxpayers’ money’

The council plans to light up the city centre have not been welcomed by a large number of readers.

Many of them, such as Annette Thomson, argue that the council “needs to stop wasting taxpayers’ money” on useless things.

Several readers simply stated that there is just no money to go ahead with the plans.

“Where is the money for this? I thought we had no money to the point that all public services are under threat?” Rachael Douglas posted.

Shirley Christie said: “Who comes up with these ‘bright’ ideas? It’s going to need more than a few fairy lights to attract people back to a ghost town.”

Meanwhile, Alan Sadler argued that “there are better things to spend money on.”

On a similar tone, Bob Rose said “the money that it would cost can be put to a much better use to make the streets cleaner, safer and more attractive.”

And Jackie Kerr argued the money could be used “to plan what they are going to do for the homeowners” of the Torry houses affected by RAAC instead.

Dazzling plans to bring year-round spirit of Spectra to Aberdeen city centre – with glowing bike lanes and fairy lights galore