An Angus architect has unveiled a radical vision for the future of the county’s largest burgh.
The ambitious development blueprint for Arbroath includes moving Gayfield Park, home of the town’s football team.
Heinz Voigt, owner of the Voigt Partnership, has put together a redevelopment plan which he believes can revitalise the town.
His proposals are likely to cause a stir in the community and include some radical concepts, such as doing away with the Abbeygate car park to create a European-style central plaza.
Mr Voigt said his firm had carried out the designs free of charge and confirmed he had already met officials from Angus Council to outline his ideas.
“We are not doing this for any other reason than we live and work in Arbroath and want to make it a better place for the future,” Mr Voigt said.
“What we have done is taken a look at Arbroath, how it is structured and how we can improve it. Some of the ideas are not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.
“It is about seeing what areas of the town could be enhanced and about making more use of what we have got.”
The plan includes measures to open up the seafront, extend Kerr’s miniature railway and create an indoor leisure beach to attract tourists.’Turn the corner’Areas are designated for leisure and commercial space, car parking, open spaces and residential developments, in addition to a site for a budget hotel and business facilities.
Plots have been earmarked for restaurants and a boutique and more would be made of links to the Signal Tower Museum and the Bell Rock lighthouse, which celebrated its bicentenary last year.
Artwork would be positioned on town roundabouts, the A92 would be landscaped and the train station upgraded.
New-build flats and penthouses would be built on the former Fishermen’s Association site, while the boatyard would have a public viewing area and improved access would run to Victoria Park and Seaton Cliffs.
Sports facilities would be enhanced to include an indoor area to link into the town’s football, athletics, rugby and cricket clubs.
Mr Voigt, who has lived in the town for 34 years, said there was an opportunity for Arbroath to “turn the corner”.
He added: “What the council has done with the harbour area, the visitor centre, Arbroath Abbey and the Westway Retail Park has provided a good start and we now need to look towards building on that.
“I feel at the moment the town is a bit disjointed.”Plan ‘welcome’Councillor David Fairweather, vice-convener of the council’s infrastructure services committee, said the authority officers who viewed the plans had been “taken aback”.
“Arbroath used to be one of the busiest burghs in the whole of Angus and Tayside and over the years I have watched that disappear,” he said.
“I have always had a vision for Arbroath and, when Mr Voigt showed me his plans, I thought they were exactly the type of development that we need.”
He added: “This is something that is going to happen over the next 20 to 30 years, not only in the town centre but right across the town.
“These plans would bring even more people into the town and I would love people to come down and give their comments.”
A council spokesman said: “Anything which stimulates ideas and interest in the development of communities is always welcome.
“However, as Mr Voigt is aware, the appropriate way to contribute to the broad forward planning of our communities is through the local development plan process, where a sustainable framework for development is explored and agreed.”