Major plans have been lodged for the £100 million redevelopment of a former hospital site in Montrose.
The proposed housing, retail and commercial development, called Sunnyside Park, will include affordable, retirement and assisted-living housing in a mixture of apartments and family homes.
Sunnyside Estate Ltd has lodged its planning-in-principle application for a mixed use development on the 64-acre site.
David Stewart, director of Sunnyside Estate said: “Our vision is for a distinctive development which enhances and benefits the local area, sustaining and creating local jobs, has been foremost in our thinking for Sunnyside.
“We have been working closely with the local community and Angus Council to propose a masterplan design that is a benefit for the area, to maintain the history and heritage of the former hospital, and the natural environment along with consideration to both existing and new communities.
“Sunnyside Park represents an idyllic setting, history and a uniqueness seldom found in other sites and we are very excited about its potential.
“We are passionate about building quality developments that preserve our country’s heritage, employing the best of modern day construction techniques, and to deliver projects and communities of which we can be proud.
“Our plans generated considerable excitement locally and, following a constructive public consultation, we are now lodging our planning application outlining our vision for Sunnyside.”
The development plan indicates the release of around 265 houses, with 140 in the first phase period to 2021, with the remainder to follow within five years.
Edinburgh-based FM Group along with Montrose-based Pert Bruce Construction Ltd jointly purchased the hospital site from NHS Tayside last year in a seven-figure deal.
The development is being brought forward by Sunnyside Estate Ltd, a joint venture between the two companies, which will be investing £100 million in the development which will stimulate the local economy and create local jobs.
The Principle Class B and C heritage buildings will be preserved and sensitively incorporated into the overall development.
The former Sunnyside Hospital in Montrose was open for 230 years before its closure in 2011 and was the oldest psychiatric hospital in Scotland.
The original Montrose Asylum, which was the first in Scotland, was established by local woman Susan Carnegie, funded by public subscription and opened in 1781.
Expanding patient numbers led to the purchase of a new site at Hillside which was designed by the architect William Lambie Moffatt, and the hospital buildings opened in 1857.
Notable patients include the father of Arthur Conan Doyle, who was a talented artist, and Adam Christie, who sculpted the Hillside Robert Burns plaque.
The new development at Stracathro replaced the existing facilities at Sunnyside.
The theft-hit building has spent years boarded up after closing in 2011.
