By not developing the magnificent beach area north of the River Don, Aberdeen is missing out on a golden opportunity to enhance both its tourist and leisure appeal.
A rivermouth bridge and northern extension to the esplanade would not only create a bypass for one of the city’s worst bottlenecks, but would allow the establishment of a sports and entertainment village at the northern end of an extended seaside drive experience.
Thousands of visitors used to arrive at the current beach site by buses and trams. Since then no provision has been made for a car-owning public.
As a result, the few facilities are either swamped on good days or inadequate on others.
An entertainment village north of the river would not only offset the present parking dearth and open up a magnificent ‘new’ beach, it could also provide weatherproof domes, hotels with rooftop restaurants overlooking the bay and a North Sea energy exhibition centre.
The oil and gas downturn has again highlighted the need for the city to diversify.
Tourism and leisure is one field where the city needs to exploit its strengths. A new seaside facility north of the River Don would be one way to achieve this.
Peter Mearns.
Walk shock
Having had my Covid vaccine two weeks ago and with the improvement in the weather I went for a walk at the beach. It’s the first time I have been down since last summer.
Expecting a pleasant walk, I was in for a very uncomfortable time. I passed groups of four people walking obviously on a social outing rather than the acceptable exercising with one other person.
The whole atmosphere was one of a crowded busy day out, with no policing to make sure the rules of exercising were being observed. Not a pleasant experience.
ED.
No hope
Re the Dons loan strikers. Kamberi looks the part and was unlucky not to score at Celtic Park but Hornby is like a flea in a blanket. He does not look like a natural striker and he will struggle to score goals for Aberdeen.
BM.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.