THE leaders of Aberdeen City Council have reopened dialogue with Aberdeen FC after a year of silence.

A new stadium on the beachfront would benefit the local economy by £20m a year, according to an Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce report, while 92% of Dons fans surveyed are in favour of the new ground.

But the plans were put on hold when the authority said they wouldn’t contribute any cash towards to £80m project.

And in August this year, council chiefs admitted that there had been no contact with the football club throughout the entire year.

The Press and Journal have now revealed that a meeting did eventually take place, in October this year.

“We can confirm a meeting was held between Aberdeen City Council and the chief executive and the chairman of Aberdeen Football Club,” a statement from the authority read.

End of ‘nonsensical impasse’

Ryan Houghton, leader of the council’s Conservative group, has been applying pressure to the administration for a number of months for updates on the proposals.

He told the P&J: “It’s good to see the nonsensical impasse has ended and that the administration are finally giving this the consideration it requires.

“Now we hope to see plans come before council In the near future, so all 45 councillors can get a full understanding of any proposal.”

Labour group leader M Tauqeer Malik added: “Without the new stadium, anything we do at the beach is just cosmetic.”