The developer behind controversial plans to build 275 houses on the outskirts of Dundee has yet to decide if it will proceed to lodge a full planning application, a representative of the company has told The Courier.
At a public exhibition in Birkhill’s Millennium Hall, the spokesman for Strategic Land (Scotland) Ltd said the firm was viewing the information evening as a chance to gauge local opinion on the proposed development on open countryside at South Achray, next to Clatto Country Park.
Concern had already been expressed about the pressure the new “urban village” would place on schools and the road network in the area so the plans were bound to arouse considerable interest.
By early evening, around 70 people had visited the hall to examine the proposals and the spokesman said the company was “very pleased to have had substantial interest from people in the area.
“We have had valuable feedback from them which we will take away and consider.
“People’s concerns are varied and it is difficult for us to allay their direct concerns at this point in the process.
“We are at the point in the process of listening and gathering information and we welcome their input in bringing the matters of concern to our attention.
“The next step is for us to digest and consider the feedback and to consider then whether we make a planning application or not and if we do what the form of that will be.”
However, it appeared at least some residents still had doubts.RoadsOne 74-year-old man, who has lived near the proposed site all his life, said it was the latest in a long line of plans to develop the area.
“If they do go ahead with this, they will have to do something about the roads, though,” he said. “They are third class at the moment and for me that is the main thing against it.”
His daughter agreed that the roads would have to be upgraded and strict speed limits imposed.
“It would also be sad to lose the wildlife that we have in the area,” she said. “It is a very quiet area now but it won’t be if they have those numbers.
“There is also the fact that Dundee is spreading outwards and I think there are a lot of areas in the city they could be developing without coming out here.”
Slightly more sympathetic was another resident, who said of his neighbours, “I think some of them have moved out here from Dundee and now have a ‘not in my back yard’ approach but there always has to be progress.”
Even so, he agreed there could be unwelcome pressure on roads and added that he understood local schools were “just about full.”
But he said of the exhibition, “Just because you put up some photographs doesn’t mean you will ever get planning permission for it.”