A prominent Dundee urban site has emerged from the shadows to look forward to a bright future at the centre of its community.
Derby Street’s escape from the darkness cast by overhanging multi-storey towers began a year ago when Butterburn and Bucklemaker courts were demolished in controlled explosions that attracted global media attention.
Now cleared of building rubble, the site has been graded and seeded to flourish as a parkland for the community to enjoy a striking contrast to its former gloomy, concrete-encased appearance.
It has also found a new focal point in St Martin’s Episcopal Church, which survived almost entirely unscathed from the controlled explosions that sent the towers crashing down around it.
Housing convener John Alexander said: “It looks magnificent and we are now looking forward with a physical regeneration project for the site’s future.
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“We have no clear prescription for the area but are listening to the community to reflect the changing landscape and the people’s needs.
“We have a plan for an urban crescent-type project with a mixture of low-density housing and green spaces.
“We are envisaging replacing the 460 dwellings that existed at the time of the multis with something like 150 houses, but in a design which allows more green spaces.”
The planning brief for investors and the community outlines an opportunity for a regeneration approach that will knit the urban fabric back together.
It will draw strength from the legacy of fine buildings in the adjacent area and other features to dictate the scale and proportion of the future development.
Councillor Alexander said the council is working in partnership with various groups and crucially with St Martin’s Church and its potential to take an enhanced role as a community facility and for outreach activities.