Council leaders have said they are “greatly encouraged” after engaging thousands of people in a once-in-a-generation plan to overhaul Aberdeen city centre.
More than 4,000 people are said to have been involved in the consultation process into the multimillion-pound City Centre Masterplan, since it was first launched in autumn last year.
The latest stage of the consultation, which is being led by Aberdeen City Council and Building Design Partnership (BDP), was opened up last Saturday with an event at the international market on Union Terrace – where the project team handed out 1,000 leaflets.
Most recently, 1,182 people attended a four-day exhibition at The Academy shopping complex, where they were given the chance to have their say on the proposals.
There have already been two consultation stages, in September and November, which were attended by around 2,000 people.
Aberdeen City Council has also printed and distributed around 75,000 information booklets to schools and community centres across the area.
Key aspects of the proposals include partial pedestrianisation of Union Street and a walkway connecting Union Terrace Gardens with Belmont Street, as well as a public square at Castlegate.
Around 1,500 homes, 25% to be “affordable”, could also be built near Queen Street as part of the ambitious plans.
Deputy council leader Marie Boulton, who heads up regeneration for the local authority, attended the recent events and is optimistic about the level of public involvement.
She said: “Everyone involved with the masterplan has been greatly encouraged by the numbers of Aberdonians turning out to see for themselves the way in which our city could be transformed over the next 20 years and beyond.
“This is a hugely important stage in a vitally important process, but we are only mid-way through this latest element of the consultation exercise and we want many more people to find a way to ensure that their views are heard.
“The masterplan team have listened to what the public were saying during the earlier consultation phases and produced some challenging and exciting initiatives, so now more than ever it is
really important that people continue to ensure that Aberdeen gets what it needs to maintain our position as one of this country’s leading cities.”
The latest phase of consultation finishes on Sunday.