Plans for the £40 million transformation of the former Strathmartine Hospital in a project which could bring hundreds of homes and a care village to the site have taken a step forward.
Edinburgh agents have now officially lodged a proposal of application notice with Angus Council in whose planning jurisdiction the establishment sits as part of a process which will see proposals for the hospital outlined to locals at a public exhibition next month.
The Strathmartine school event on June 14-15 is likely to include schematic projections of what could be built on the sprawling site on the outskirts of Dundee, as well as an indication of redevelopment plans for the listed main building.
Empty since its closure in 2003, Strathmartine has fallen into steady decline and for some time has been on the enforcement radar of Angus Council’s development standards committee as councillors pressed owners Heathfield Ltd to bring forward plans for its re-use.
The committee has been told that the proposal of application notice had now been lodged as part of the statutory process and Robert Evans of capital agents Muir Smith Evans said it was an early stage in the planning bid.
He said it was an administrative notification for matters likely to be deemed a major application by planners. A 12-week period is now under way during which a planning application cannot be submitted, but will include the public exhibition and consultation with local stakeholders including the community council.
Mr Evans said a number of specialist reports are also currently being progressed, ranging from conversion of the listed buildings to the flora and fauna of the site, including potential impact on bats and badgers.
“There is potential for a range of mixed uses including residential and a nursing home and care village, but that is very much market-dependent,” added Mr Evans.
A creche and community facility are also being mooted as part of the conversion or new-build plan. Mr Evans said there was still a significant amount of work to be carried out on the number of housing units which will be required to complete the financial viability jigsaw.
Extended discussions between the developer and Angus Council look likely, with the current local plan allocation of around 40-50 units some considerable way short of the likely number of homes which will have to be built for the financial plan to stack up.
“We are still going through the unit numbers exercise but would be looking at a couple of hundred,” he said, adding that while there was a clear desire to put the old buildings back into use, that in itself would be likely to create a funding shortfall of several million pounds.
“We have been completely open with the council and have no preconception that it has to be this particular number, but clearly it has to be carried out on a cost viability basis.”
Mr Evans added, “We know there are issues with the site and we believe that most of these we can design and solve.”