One of Perthshire’s biggest employers is attempting to block a housing development on the outskirts of Perth.
Helicopter repair and testing plant Vector Aerospace has slammed the Almond Valley plan because of the inclusion of land belonging to the firm being within the development boundary and excess noise for new householders.
The Almond Valley scheme includes 1,500 homes, a primary school and leisure facilities on land between Ruthvenfield and Huntingtowerfield.
Developers, the Pilkington Trust, recently had to submit a fresh application for Almond Valley due to a planning technicality, after previously having their proposal rejected by Perth and Kinross Council and an appeal knocked back at the Court of Session.
However, the plan was put back on the table in 2013 after the Scottish Government recommended it be incorporated into the adopted local plan.
Agents Savills, acting for the developers, have met locals in a bid to allay fears over the development, but the project now faces further scrutiny.
A document submitted by solicitors Shepherd and Wedderburn, on behalf of Vector, states the company expressed an interest in developing at the proposed site for a “number of years, and that they notified both the council and Savills of this”.
The company has also claimed the developers want to build a community woodland “immediately adjacent” to land belonging to Vector and this area of land is required as an alternative access for the Almondbank facility.
Alastair Wood, director of planning at Savills, said: “The pre-application consultation meeting was open to all interested parties.”