A group of 18 final year students from the University of Aberdeen have been busy over the last few weeks preparing a long-term, land use plan for the future of Peterhead, as part of their MA degree programmes in Spatial Planning and Surveying.
The project is the main section of their course, ‘Spatial Analysis and Planning’ which equips students with the skills needed to produce a land use plan (a document setting out proposals for the future use of land in an area, for example, showing where new housing and shops should be developed) for a small settlement.
The choice of Peterhead as the focus for the project arose following discussions between the Course Co-ordinator, William Walton, and planning staff at Aberdeenshire Council.
William Walton is providing support to the students and said: “We wanted the students to focus their attention on a town where they could use their skills as prospective planners and surveyors to help make a really positive contribution to the thinking about the town’s future.
“Peterhead faces enormous challenges such as the future of both the fishing industry and the prison, along with the threats and opportunities provided by new out-of-town shopping developments, and it therefore seemed the ideal place in which to carry out this study.”
Following a visit to the town in late February students will be visiting Peterhead on a regular basis over the next few months to undertake interviews with key stakeholders and collect data relating to various matters such as the economy, housing, community facilities, shops, transport and the surrounding landscape.
During their visit in February the students heard presentations by Hamish Robertson, Principal Planner at Aberdeenshire Council and Ewan Lawrie of Scottish Natural Heritage. Hamish Robertson outlined the principal development issues relevant to Peterhead and discussed the strategies being pursued by the Council to secure developer investment. Ewan Lawrie described the principal protective environmental designations around the town and discussed their potential significance to the long-term development of Peterhead.
Final year student Anne Rennie is one of the students involved in the plan and said: “This project represents the culmination of our four years of studying planning at the University of Aberdeen and provides us with the opportunity to bring all our skills and knowledge together through the formulation of a plan.
“We hope to produce a set of ideas that will give the people of Peterhead and the planners at Aberdeenshire Council something to consider and something to build upon.”
The students will be presenting their vision for Peterhead at a public meeting in the town in early May.