2
The last thing we want is for a new stadium to be built and people cannot easily get
there, unless by car and are then caught in a traffic jam.
We will also have to carefully consider the economics of the stadium being located at
Kingsford, and the impacts on businesses either in Aberdeen, near Pittodrie, or in
Kingswells and Westhill. Overall we would hope that a new stadium, wherever it
was, would bring more success to Aberdeen than it takes away.
However, the Council does feel that a new stadium which improves on the current
one would be an important asset for Aberdeen, but believe that the impacts of the
proposal must be balanced and that the results are overwhelmingly positive for the
city and beyond. Clearly it will cost a lot of money and we don’t want to spend so
much on the wrong thing.
The effects of a new stadium on the environment is something that our officers in
Planning and Sustainable Development will be looking at very carefully, and I would
anticipate that should the proposals at Kingsford come before us that we will require
them to be supported by an Environmental Statement (ES). This ES would look at
the stadium proposals and the anticipated effects on the environment, impacts on
things like: noise levels; plants; animals; humans; air quality; landscape character;
water quality; natural resources; etc. We do not want to make any animals sad
because of any decisions we make.
It is interesting that you ask why Pittodrie, or perhaps its surroundings, cannot
accommodate an improved stadium, and this is certainly something we would expect
the football club to explore fully. There are certainly positives to fully investigating
what could happen in that location. Equally there may be other locations within or
around the city which could accommodate a new stadium, with less impacts such as
the issues you discuss, again we would expect any proposals at Kingsford to have
looked at these options and why if they are suitable.
The planning application assessment process is likely to be very complex, involve a
lot of people and take a long time before we can come to a decision. At this time, we
haven’t had any significant discussions with the football club and as such it is likely to
be a while yet until we have a planning application that we can start to assess.
Also, in your letter some of the questions are perhaps best answered by Aberdeen
Football Club themselves, as it is them who are proposing and designing the stadium
and training facilities. In time there will be a pre-application public consultation
exercise undertaken by the Club, and I would urge you, your classmates, family and
friends to get involved in that consultation and make comments on the proposals.
Any comments made will require to be considered and responded to by the Club,
before they submit a planning application.
Thank you very much for you interest and I hope that you will keep your eye on when
we receive an application and make comments at that time, so that we can
understand what people of your age think.
Yours sincerely
3
Angela Scott
Chief Executive