A group of students from the University of Aberdeen will next week present their vision for the future of Peterhead at a public event being held in the town on Monday (May 15).
'A Blueprint for the Bluetoon' has been prepared as part of the students’ MA degree programmes in Spatial Planning and Surveying. The group of 18 final year students have been busy over the last few weeks preparing a long-term, land use plan for the future of Peterhead. 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 has provided 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 visited Peterhead on a regular basis over the next couple of 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.
Final year student Anne Rennie is one of the students involved in the plan. She 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 this plan.
“We now have a set of ideas and recommendations which we have produced that will give the people of Peterhead and the planners at Aberdeenshire Council something to consider and build upon. We are looking forward to presenting our findings at the public event being held next week in Peterhead.”
The students will present their findings and recommendations for the future of Peterhead at a public meeting in the town on Monday, May 15. There will be a question and answer session at the end of the event, which begins at 2.00pm at Aberdeenshire Council’s Office (Arbuthnot House, 62 Broad Street), Peterhead and will last for approximately one hour.
Local council representatives (officers and councillors), together with local community councillors and the general public are all invited to attend.