Our Union Street: 17 key themes to save Granite Mile

Our Union Street have revealed 17 key themes needed to save Aberdeen's high street in a whitepaper unveiling.

The group was formed in March, collecting public responses about what Aberdonians would like to see for the Granite Mile. 

They received over an outstanding 10,000 suggestions which were whittled down into 17 themes, falling under five categories.

Hundreds of volunteers gathered in the Music Hall to hear about possible plans which could be moved forward to the next phase.

One category mentioned in the whitepaper is accessibility - some of the main concerns people had were around the bus and taxi problems in the city centre, to which bringing in Uber was suggested. 

There was lots of criticism surrounding the lack of taxis in the city centre, with some residents in Aberdeenshire explaining they wouldn't travel into the city at night for food and drinks because they had doubts about taxi availability. 

Parking concerns is another theme, with many respondents saying they were unhappy with the availability, accessibility and cost of city centre parking. 

Lowering the costs or introducing free parking were a couple of the suggested solutions to this, raising the question if Aberdeen city centre has enough parking as it is.

Footfall was another category, highlighting the need for a better atmosphere in the city.

Campaigners hailed the success of Spectra Festival, highlighting the need for more tourist attractions and events in the city. 

'The state of the street' category features topics including cleaning the streets, adding more colourful flower beds and recruiting volunteers.

Empty units is one topic which has been a reoccurring issue throughout the entirety of the campaign to revitalise Union Street - and sprucing up vacant shops with art exhibitions or social activities could be a way around this. 

Ultimately, attracting new tenants to the empty units would be the best result, where the group questioned how to provide a clear and compelling offers for businesses looking to set up shop on Union Street.

You can read the full whitepaper here.

Speaking at the whitepaper unveiling, Chairman of Our Union Street, Bob Keiller, said: "The first phase of our activity was very much about listening - and we will continue to listen."