To deliver the much-needed football academy with best-in-class training facilities by Spring 2018 and a stadium for the 2019/20 football season, the club is lodging a planning application in the Autumn.

Following the Proposal of Application Notice (PoAN) in June, we embarked on a series of public exhibitions as part of the pre-application consultation. These were held in Kingswells, Westhill and Pittodrie with pop-up exhibitions in the Trinity Centre and Aberdeen Central Library.

There were more than 1,000 visits to the various exhibitions with several people attending more than one event.

At this early stage in the planning process, we wanted to provide an indication of the proposal and the proposed uses on the site, particularly in relation to facilities which would be of benefit to Westhill and Kingswells.

These consultations provided some valuable and, at times, lively debate. We were very much in listening mode and, given the lack of detail at this time, we were open to all ideas, initial thoughts and concerns. There are some constraints on the site so, while we have to balance managing expectations against what is achievable, we were largely pleased with the positive response to the plans.

It is clear that an over-whelming number of fans support the project as well as many local people who see what we could bring to both Kingswells and Westhill. However, we are very aware of the genuine concerns local people have, particularly around traffic and parking and we are committed to putting in place robust transport strategies and parking controls on match days to make sure these concerns are not realised should the plans secure approval.

The club and the trust would like to thank everyone who attended. We collected valuable and constructive feedback which will help inform and shape our final planning application.

Once we have incorporated views and suggestions into our detailed planning application, we will be holding a feedback event to present this to the public and will publicise this well in advance.

Once we have incorporated views and suggestions into our detailed planning application, we will be holding a feedback event to present this to the public and will publicise this well in advance.