Scottish ministers have upheld the controversial multi-million-pound housing development earmarked for the former Strathmartine Hospital.
Plans to build 198 homes and convert the B-listed main building into 24 flats were approved by Angus Council after a special meeting last year.
But Dundee City Council objected to Heathfield Ltd’s development near its border, on the grounds that the number of new homes was “excessive and not justifiable”.
The application was then “called in” by Scottish Ministers, who have heeded reporter Allison Coard’s advice that a smaller-scale development in the order of 40 houses would be “improbable”.
Planning permission in principle will be granted for new housing, conversion to residential and community use and crche, associated access, landscape and infrastructure, subject to 13 conditions.
The official stamp will follow the conclusion of a planning obligation satisfactory to ministers, deferred for three months.
Firefighters have spent more than 50 hours fighting blazes at the former hospital in the last six years.
Ms Coard regards redevelopment as a means of preventing “future arson and vandalism”.
Former nurse Karen McAulay, who runs the Strathmartine Hospital Project to preserve the oral history of former residents and staff, said she is “delighted” by the decision.
She added: “Do I wish it was done earlier? Yes, but at least we’ll see some security given to the main building.
“In some ways it’s a bit sad as it seems like the end but it’s also the beginning.”
Strathmartine Hospital was opened as the Baldovan Institution in 1852 and closed in 2003 following staged decommission by the NHS in the 1980s.
Fire raisers triggered outbreaks at the old asylum 16 times since 2009, including three occasions this year.
The last major fire at the former hospital came in April, when firefighters tackled a huge blaze in the main building for more than 20 hours.
Police confirmed they were treating the fire as suspicious, but the culprits have not been traced.
There were also two minor fires in June, which took 37 and 17 minutes, respectively, to deal with.
All but two of the 16 incidents since April 2009 have been reported in the evening, at night or early hours of the morning.
Strathmartine Community Council objected to the “large scale” of the development as contrary to the development plan, and 22 letters of objection including a 23-signature petition from the residents of Ashton Terrace.