I hope that the recent will be a chance for all involved to take a step back, take a deep breath and have a pause for thought. Everybody is agreed that something needs to be done to secure a sound future for the town centre as a whole and Academy Street in particular. A suitable framework has to be found to allow all the available ideas and energy and expertise and resources to pull together.
Recriminations and digging further into opposing defensive positions will not be helpful. Some thoughts on a possible reset. It would be helpful to widen the focus of attention to the town centre as a whole.
Academy Street is clearly in need of some TLC. However, it is the inter-locking keystone of the wider town centre economy, townscape and traffic movements. Dealing with Academy Street in isolation is never likely to come up with a satisfactory long-term solution.
This is especially the case given the looming need to manage the impacts across the town centre from very heavy new footfall as the castle opens. Moreover, looking further ahead, when (eventually) the station is redeveloped all movement around the town centre, and especially along Academy Street, can and will have to be rethought. The council agreed in 2021 a draft Town Centre Master Plan for consultation purposes.
The plan and its evidence base will need some additions eg on townscape value and pedestrian movements, and updating. The draft is in itself far from perfect but that’s fine – it’s a draft and should be open.