There will be no hearing into a planned multi-million-pound housing project at the former Strathmartine Hospital, it has emerged.
A developer’s proposal to turn the B-listed main building into 24 flats, with 198 new homes in its grounds, was called in after a special Angus Council meeting gave its approval.
However Dundee City Council objected to Heathfield Ltd’s development near its border, on the grounds that the number of new-build homes was “excessive and not justifiable”.
The application was then “called in” by Scottish Ministers, with a reporter due to conduct a hearing involving the developer, both councils, and interested locals.
However the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals has announced the reporter now has enough information to report to Ministers directly.
Case officer Liz Kerr states: “The reporter has now received exchanges from the main parties in response to the matters raised in her procedure notice of 5 June 2015.
“The reporter considers she should now have sufficient information on which to report to Ministers, without the need for a hearing, subject to providing an opportunity for each of the main parties to respond to each other’s submissions.”
The DPEA has requested written submissions from each party relating to the local development plan, sustainable development, housing land supply and any potential impact on secondary education provision in Forfar.
Each party has been given a further period of two weeks to respond to any opposing statements, after which the reporter will proceed to finalise her report.
Strathmartine Hospital was opened as the Baldovan Institution in 1852 and closed in in 2003 following staged decommission by the NHS in the 1980s.
Last week, the developer said the building is a “threat to public safety”.
“Even with regular perimeter patrols, the fence is cut, repaired and cut again within a matter of hours,” the report by developer Heathfield Ltd commented.
“Ladders, hammers, chisels, screwdrivers, gas canisters have all recently been found abandoned when individuals have been caught or confronted on site.
“There appears to be a threat to public safety and a real threat to the listed buildings which appear to be the main focus of attention.”