Proposals for a 60-bed motel and garden centre at Stracathro services adjacent to the A90 have been re-submitted to Angus planners.
The move follows the lapse of previously granted approval for the development, which stalled as a result of the credit crunch.
However, new hope has now been expressed of the scheme progressing soon.
The planned development is centred on land familiar to drivers on the Dundee to Aberdeen dual carriageway for the Stracathro service and filling station, with its roadside Ye May Gang Far and Fare Waur message.
In 2013, Angus planners gave delegated approval for the project, saying that the bid complied with the area’s development plan and would represent “an appropriate improvement to roadside facilities on the A90.”
Rod McRae of Dunfermline-based agents McRae and McRae said: “Our client, Mrs Pat Melville-Evans is now in a position to proceed with the development and is keen to start.
“She was granted permission previously, but the credit crunch came along.
“Our client is hopeful that she will get things moving, it is a well-known site with very good access off the dual carriageway.
“The granting of planning in principle has lapsed. There are no material changes to the granted application,” add the agents in their submission.
A wind turbine was part of the original proposal but was removed from the plan prior to the delegated approval.
Conditions applied to the consent included a requirement for access to only be taken via the grade-separated junction on the A90 and the creation of a two-metre wide footway between the site and the entrance to Stracathro Hospital.
The latest submission has drawn an observation from Angus Council’s environmental protection officer over possible land contamination from the area’s previous use as a filling station.
Suggesting a condition of an investigation report, Alan Milne states: “The area proposed for the garden centre was previously a filling station with petrol and diesel underground tanks.
“The tanks were degassed and infilled with sand/cement slurry in February 1999 but I have no information about the condition of the ground or about the degassing and removal of other infrastructure.
“The area proposed for the motel was a greenfield site prior to development of the A90 dual carriageway.
“Since then the area has been used as an HGV parking area. I recommend that contamination of this area from this more recent use be considered,” adds the council officer.
