City leaders today hailed the start of works upgrading a section of Aberdeen’s main thoroughfare of Union Street as a major milestone to revitalising the Granite Mile – the biggest change to the street since it was built more than 200 years ago.

The works to the Union Street Central area – between the Market Street and Bridge Street junctions – will make it more attractive and vibrant while promoting walking and cycling as part of the City Centre and Beach Masterplan. The works include new pavements with locally-sourced granite, a road surface, and cycle lanes, and will help to create a plaza entrance to the new market building.

During the works, access will continue to all shops and businesses for pedestrians, as well as access for delivery vehicles.

Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader Councillor Ian Yuill said: “The work to Union Street central will complement the new market building and contribute to making our city centre an even more attractive place to visit.

“This investment in Union Street central, the new market building, and other initiatives such as the Council’s £1million Empty Shops Grant Scheme, all have key roles in creating a vibrant and exciting city centre for people to visit, shop, work and spend time.”

Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader Councillor Christian Allard said: “The new high-quality streetscaping for Union Street Central is the next step to make Aberdeen’s city centre a great destination for residents and visitors to enjoy.

“Union Street which is 200 years old is due a makeover – a local makeover as local and Scottish materials are being used for the streetscaping which will help the economy.”

Russell Borthwick, Chief Executive of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: “We need to ensure Aberdeen is a modern, forward-thinking city and create a place people want to visit.

“We have already seen huge investments in various city centre regeneration projects – the Music Hall, the Art Gallery, MSQ, Union Terrace Gardens and Provost Skene’s House to name but a few – and this represents another step in the right direction.

“We are beginning to see real momentum in making Union Street, creating a more vibrant place to live, work, and relax. This will have huge benefits for our businesses and our people for years and decades to come.”

Bob Keiller, chairman of Our Union Street, said: “This is a huge positive step for Union Street that complements the many smaller steps that we are taking to re-energise the city centre. I have no doubt that there will be some disruption, but it will be worth it – the new market will also be a great addition.”

Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said: “The changes about to be made to Union Street Central – not least the creation of a new £40million market building – will be transformational.

“While there will be inevitable disruption from months of construction work, it must be stressed pedestrian access will be maintained to all premises throughout the works. Union Street will be open for business.

“That message cannot be repeated loudly enough or often enough in the coming months. Aberdeen Inspired, along with other stakeholders including the city council, will take every opportunity to tell the public, here in the city and further afield, that Union Street shops, restaurants, attractions, and businesses are waiting to welcome customers. And we will all work to support businesses as Union Street is changed for the better.”

The City Council is to receive £20million from the UK Levelling Up Fund which will be used towards the development of Union Street Central and the new market building.

UK Government Levelling Up Minister Jacob Young said: “I’m delighted that the regeneration of the Granite Mile and transformation of Aberdeen city centre is underway, made possible by £20m of levelling up funding from the UK Government.

“These changes will make a huge difference to residents and local businesses as well as strengthen Aberdonians’ pride in their city. I look forward to visiting when this brilliant levelling up project is completed.”

The works, which are being carried out by Morrison Construction in parallel to the works being carried out at the new market building, include several mitigations for shops and businesses in the area.

The mitigations include:

• Access to all shops and businesses for pedestrians;
• Access for delivery vehicles;
• One lane east-bound will be available at all times for emergency vehicles, refuse collections, and deliveries. Existing business loading restrictions will continue no loading 8am to 9.30am, 12.30pm to 2.30pm, 4.30pm to 6pm.
• The taxi rank in Back Wynd will be for day and night taxis;
• Buses will be re-routed either via the bus priority route (Market Street, Guild Street, and Bridge Street), Union Terrace, or Schoolhill – see bus company websites for information on individual routes.

The Union Street Central area will be closed to traffic between Bridge Street and Market Street and a works site compound created in that area. Works will move east to west (from Market Street to Bridge Street) with works information and colourful hoarding surrounding the closed-off area.

The area is being split into three sections of 100m each, with each phase of work starting in the first 100m on east side (closest to Market Street) before moving on to the second section and then the third (closest to Bridge Street).

The works for the first few months will include:

• trial holes dug in the road to find exact locations of utilities;
• removing all street furniture on the south side then the north side;
• removing the road surface;
• installing drains, gully traps, ducting, and kerbing.

There will also be works carried out by utility companies at the same time replacing and upgrading existing utilities when the road is opened up.

Works are due to be completed, depending on what is uncovered by utility companies, weather, and world-wide supply-chain availability of materials, in autumn 2025.

Aberdeen’s project to involve young people in the Beach Masterplan won the People’s Choice award at the Scottish Planning Innovation Awards yesterday (21 March).

Children and young people from around the city took part in stakeholder engagement sessions last year helping to shape the new attractions. The award recognises innovation in working with all age groups, excellence in leadership or achievement.

Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader Councillor Ian Yuill said: “It is great to see the council’s work in engaging young people in the Beach Masterplan being recognised. “Involving young people in plans is important to shape our city for future generations.”

Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader Councillor Christian Allard said: “It is important that we engage with our children and young people on the key themes and elements of the Beach Masterplan.
“Winning this award highlights our commitment to involving young people in our future plans.”

The main features of the Beach Park include a play park, sports area/pump track, gateway building, hub building, and canopy features.
The play park will provide a significantly-sized outdoor destination, facilitate connections to the city centre, create a focus for activity, and will act as a key ‘gateway’ into the wider park and the beach. The seaside location and the rope factory that was once located to the south of the site have both been key inspirations that have helped shape the design of the play area.

The Scottish Planning Innovation Award programmes showcase outstanding achievements in planning. The awards celebrate the contribution made by the planning profession to communities, and to raise awareness and understanding of the work of the industry.

Works for a new beach park as part of the City Centre and Beach Masterplan have started with construction for an events park and enhancement of Broadhill to commence within weeks.

Aberdeen City Council’s Finance and Resources Committee yesterday approved an update of the £48million Beachfront Phase A project which included details of the three different elements of the scheme including the start of works to the new playpark area.

Committee convener Councillor Alex McLellan said: “It is very exciting to have the start of works to the playpark and associated parking as the first of the new beachfront improvements which will help attract people to the area as well as enhance natural features.

“We look forward to watching the beach park area progress and work starting on the events park and Broadhill in the coming months.”

The report to committee said planning consent was granted in December 2023 for the playpark, car park, and events park. Building warrant applications are now being prepared for the rope factory, hub building, gateway building, amphitheatre, site-wide drainage, and canopy.

The new works are designed to renew the beachfront to maximise the potential of this unique space and create an exceptional asset for the city.

The main features of the Beach Park include a play park, sports area/pump track, gateway building, hub building, and canopy features.

The play park will provide a significantly-sized outdoor destination, facilitate connections to the city centre, create a focus for activity, and will act as a key ‘gateway’ into the wider park and the beach. The seaside location and the rope factory that was once located to the south of the site have both been key inspirations that have helped shape the design of the play area.

In conjunction with youth engagement exercises, the play area has been broken down into four main character or themed areas – The Sports Zone, The Adventure Zone, The Woodland Zone, and The Coastal Zone. Throughout all these zones, there will be rope strands creating feature routes which promote exploration and interaction between the core play and the themed zones.

Sitting within the Adventure Zone at the centre of the park is the Rope Factory, a large-scale bespoke play structure which will become an iconic element within the park and an attraction of national significance. The idea for this iconic piece of play has evolved out of workshops with the youth groups and schools.

The Events Park is an area of approximately 2.5 hectares and is intended as a flexible space capable of holding events including festivals, larger concerts and gatherings. The Field will be the central focus of this area, semi-enclosed by woodland planting, providing definition and increased shelter.

The vision for Broadhill is to enhance the natural environment of this distinctive feature achieved through additional planting, furthering the diversity of habitat and ecological value. Access on Broadhill will be enhanced by upgrading the existing path network through resurfacing and management and as there is an extensive network of formal and informal paths, and it is not intended to introduce or change this network in any significant way.

Heras fencing has gone up in preparation for work starting on the new beach playpark area.

The playpark was given planning permission in December 2023 along with other amenities as part of a beach park and events park with supporting blue badge parking, as part of the City Centre and Beach Masterplan which is designed to reinvigorate the areas culturally and economically, attracting people to spend time in them.

This first phase of works would upgrade the green spaces which already attract visitors to the area while providing a higher quality environment and broadening the range of activities which can be enjoyed at the beach.

• The beach park area, at the south end of the site, will focus on a variety of landscaped play and sports areas with built structures including a gateway building, a hub building, two canopies, and a play structure called The Rope Factory.
• The car park and junction will be from Links Road and would provide dedicated blue badge parking spaces to the beach park area.
• The events park, at the Beach Ballroom end of the site, will have several structures including a canopy and an amphitheatre building.

There will also be additional public realm and landscaping at the site which will be covered under Permitted Development.

The City Centre and Beach Masterplan is designed to capitalise on the built and natural assets of the area which is a tourism priority in its own right and will continue to be in demand as people seek safe, outdoor, wildlife, and active experiences. The beach area is also an intrinsic component of the Aberdeen Coastal Trail, and the wide variety of tourism offer that includes nature, golf, maritime history, and dolphin watching.

The work means the current playpark will be removed, and it is within the heras fencing area so will not be able to be used meantime.