Highly ambitious plans which could see Perth grow by more than 4,500 homes are poised for approval.
The massive £1billion Bertha Park expansion, which will create vital new housing and could lead to more than 2,000 jobs, has won crucial backing from council planners and is expected to be waved through by councillors after failing to attract a single objection.
And at the same meeting on Wednesday, elected members will also be urged to green-light plans for 1,500 homes at Almond Valley.
The bid, recently revived by the Pilkington Trust, could get the go ahead despite more than 80 complaints. Opponents have raised concerns about the size of the development and the loss of countryside.
Both planning applications will be scrutinised by members of the development management committee.
Developers Springfield Properties lodged a 3,000-property masterplan for more than 800-acres of farmland on the north-western edge of the city.
If approved, work on the newbuild community could begin as early as next year and would be rolled out over the next 30 years. The site will also includes more than 60 acres of employment land – shops, offices and restaurants – and a 1,100-capacity secondary school.
Community and healthcare facilities are also planned, as well as a park and ride site and possibly a primary school.
It will be the biggest housing development for Springfield, which is also working on a site on the outskirts of Dundee.
Company chairman Sandy Adam said the bid was an “entirely new concept” for the firm.
In a report due to go before members of the council’s development management committee, development quality manager Nick Brian said the scheme could lead to major economic benefits.
“A socio-economic assessment has determined that the project will have a positive effect in terms of job creation in the area during the construction period and once the proposed employment land is developed and operational,” he said.
It is estimated that between 60 and 180 construction jobs will be created in the first instance.
Around 300 jobs are expected in the first phase of development – which involves about 750 homes and the secondary school – and a further 2,000 once the masterplan is completed.
Mr Brian points out in his study that a series of legal agreements will have to be struck to ensure certain parts of the plan go ahead including the park and ride facility and affordable housing.
Although the project received no objections from the public, the Luncarty, Redgorton and Moneydie Community Council has raised concern about emergency access, possible flood risk areas and the impact of Bertha Park and other developments on the surrounding green belt.
In their letter to planners, a spokesman for the watchdog group said: “The community council has been given a clear documented mandate by the community to vigorously resist the encroachment of housing development into our rural community through ensuring that policy initiatives and strategies for the protection of the greenbelt are enforced.”
Mr Brian has further suggested conditions which stipulate that none of the site can be occupied until improvements to the A9/A85 junction.
He said that no more than 750 homes should be allowed until the long-awaited Tay Crossing – part of the proposed Cross Tay Link Road – is in place.
The Almond Valley scheme, which was previously refused in 2011, has also been backed by planners. Mr Brian said the development is needed to cope with Perth’s projected population rise.
