Councillors in Dundee have agreed to let millionaire Gillian Bayford-Deans push ahead with plans to build six new homes, despite outrage from local residents.
In a fiery meeting of Dundee City Council’s planning committee last night, furious homeowners objecting to the move had to be repeatedly told not to interject in proceedings after deputations were heard by councillors.
Members agreed to amend conditions on a previously approved application to build the homes next to Pitkerro Mill between Kellas Road and Fithie Burn.
The building site encompasses an area near the C-listed mill, as well as Drumsturdy pond and the streams which once powered it.
Joyce McGuinness, who has lived in nearby Riverside Cottage for around 30 years, issued an impassioned plea to councillors to take into account the area’s recent history of flooding.
She said: “You want to put more families into that. You’re not going to stop it, you’re not going to stop the flooding.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me. None of you have looked at the history, no one has.”
The area has suffered a number of flooding incidents over the years, most notably in 2009. Ms McGuinness said her home has been affected seven times in the past decade.
Euromillions winner Mrs Bayford-Deans, who shared a £148 million jackpot with her then-husband in 2012, asked the council to relax conditions on her application after a report found reinstating a wall and retaining bund embankments on the river would reduce the risk of flooding.
Dundee councillors urged to back Euromillions winner Gillian Bayford’s housing plans
Mrs Bayford-Deans also has a property in Newport, Fife, which is set to be sold for a cut-price fee. See video above.
Following more than an hour of deliberation, members agreed to approve the application subject to 19 conditions.
The process included a short recess where one of the conditions was rewritten by planning officers to specify flood prevention repairs “shall be completed prior to the commencement of any work on the residential units or turning head within the development hereby approved”.
It means developers will not be able to begin building new homes on the site until the specified repairs have been completed.