PLANS THAT will transform Auchterarder are to be placed before Perth and Kinross Council this week.

Guidance for developers will be contained in the Auchterarder Expansion Development Framework, which has been seven years in the making by council officials, developers and the local community.

The document will set out how 800 new homes and associated services will be constructed over the next decade, thereby meeting a growing housing shortage in the area.

The plan goes before the enterprise and infrastructure committee on Wednesday, and its convener John Kellas said, “There is a considerable shortage in the supply of housing land in the Strathearn area and this new planning guidance would help to positively address this problem.

“There is also a shortage in the number of affordable houses in Perth and Kinross, so I’m delighted the new planning guidance makes allowance for 200 new affordable houses in the town.

“The new supplementary planning guidance will be a firm basis for the determination of future planning applications in Auchterarder, and it is to be welcomed.

“It gives residents, the council and developers clarity for the future.”

The building programme is expected to be completed in three phases on land at Castlemains, Kirkton and Townhead—identified in the Strathearn local plan as opportunity sites for housing.

The plan states that to cater for the resulting influx of residents, four new playing fields will be provided—one all-weather pitch next to the community school, and three grass pitches to the west of the Castlemains site.

Two tennis courts and a changing pavilion will also be provided at this site.

Three children’s play areas are included in the plans, and the existing network of paths in Auchterarder will be extended into the new residential areas.

Developers will also pay a financial contribution to the council for each house built —money that will be used to help improve existing facilities in the town.

The plan shows that around 20% of the total development area will be for open public space, while four hectares of land for employment use will be delivered for the town.

The notorious A9 junction at Loaninghead will be upgraded to help ease the expected increase in traffic, along with the creation of a new junction at Shinafoot—these upgrades will cost more than £10 million.

Because the expansion area was promoted through the local plan, the design of the new Community School of Auchterarder incorporates the expected additional pupils, and capacity will be monitored to ensure pupil numbers do not exceed predictions.

The required upgrade to the local waste water treatment works, which significantly delayed the preparation of this document, is largely complete.