A decades-old Camperdown Park planning law was raised by a key city group critical of Dundee FC’s new stadium project.
The Dundee Civic Trust, a voluntary body which aims to encourage the highest standards of design in new buildings and regeneration projects, flagged the little-known legislation to the council in emails seen by The Courier.
Passed in 1990, the act relates to the ownership and management of Camperdown Estate.
It was initially bought from private owners by the Dundee Corporation in 1946, who opened it to the public three years later.
Camperdown Park should be ‘maintained for the public’
Under the three-decades old legislation, it’s stipulated the area of estate known as Camperdown Park shall be “held or maintained by the council as a public park and resort”.
It also gives the council and “authorised third persons” the power to erect facilities such as conservatries, botanical gardens and winter houses.
And if the local authority decides to let areas of the park they deem not to be required, they must do so for the purposed of “agricultural or horticultural operations”.
Dundee FC’s planning in principle application for a new stadium included proposals for a training centre to be built on unused land at Camperdown Park.
This sparked concerns from members of the Dundee Civic Trust (DCT), who wrote to council chiefs in March asking for clarity on what powers they would need to approve the plans, citing the 1990 legislation.
The email, sent from chairman Donald Gordon, added: “It seems to me that the council may not have the power, as matters stand, to allow the stadium development to take place.”
However, a separate application was lodged by the Dundee FC Community Trust in August for a similar facility at Riverside.
If approved, it would provide training space for youth teams across the city, along with “an enhanced girls and women’s programme”.
It could also be used by the Dundee first-team.
Should the new training hub be green-lit, the need for a training area as part of the stadium project would be negated.
In response to DCT’s concerns, Dundee City Council told The Courier any “relevant legal issues” will be fully considered when it comes to the Dark Blues’ planning in principle application.
DCT vocal opponent of Camperdown plans
The Dundee Civic Trust has been a vocal opponent of the Camperdown stadium plans.
Among the concerns raised by DCT was impact on traffic safety and congestion along the Kingsway during matches.
We revealed last week that Transport Scotland have requested more time to consider the impact the proposals could have on the trunk road.
The total number of objections lodged against the planning in principle application has yet to be revealed as Dundee City Council, unlike Fife, Angus, and Perth and Kinross councils, do not publish these on its portal.
However, they could emerge when the planning committee next meets to make a call on the project.
After a delay earlier this month, the earliest the application can now be heard is September 9. Failing that, the matter would likely be revisited in November.
Dundee owners John Nelms and Tim Keyes have previously said they are committed to working with the local authority to progress the application as smoothly as possible.
A statement from their company Dark Blue Property Holdings added: “While we are all eager to bring the Camperdown Stadium project to life, we will continue to respect the planning process in the hope that the council observes its stated objective to ‘work with developers to remove barriers’.”
Conversation