A Dundee housebuilder has won a Scottish Government appeal to build 150 more homes in the Ballumbie area.
Stewart Milne Homes’ plan to construct the properties in an area of land formerly part of Ballumbie Castle Golf Course was previously rejected by Dundee City Council.
But a reporter from the government’s planning department has now ruled the 7.5-hectare development, named Ballumbie Rise, can go ahead.
It had been knocked back by councillors in May 2021 in a vote of 17 to five.
The homes will consist of two, three, four and five bedrooms, and will feature open views to the golf course on an area east of Ballumbie Road on the north-east border with Angus.
Total of 226 homes now set to be built
A previous application for an initial 76 houses was previously approved. Construction on these is almost complete and all of the homes have been sold.
Now the appeal has been approved, it means Stewart Milne Homes has permission to build a total of 226 homes on the site.
A spokeswoman for Stewart Milne Homes said: “We are pleased our appeal for the second phase at Ballumbie was successful.
“This has been a very popular development and we are thrilled to be able to respond to local demand by extending this new community with more new, high-quality family homes on this attractive and sought-after site.”
£378k ‘roof tax’ appeal
The Aberdeen-based housebuilder is also awaiting a decision from the Scottish Government on whether an obligation to pay a £378,000 “roof tax” will be removed.
The cash was earmarked for building more classrooms at Ballumbie Primary in what is a common agreement for large developments.
It was built in 2011 as a replacement for the previous schools in the area which were demolished.
The tax only applies to the initial phase as the Scottish Government’s planning department has ruled the agreement should not be in place for the second phase.
The planning stipulation currently means just under £5,000 must be paid for each of the 76 homes built.
This is likely to be removed as well after the reporter said the tax is not justified for the next 150 homes and there is already sufficient space for youngsters at the school.
It came after Stewart Milne Homes said the most up-to-date school roll reveals Ballumbie is only at around 65% capacity — equating to just over 400 students.
The company previously agreed to the education contributions to allow construction to begin but has since appealed.
How many homes could be built?
The council envisages around 700 to 900 new homes could be built in the Whitfield/Ballumbie area but between 2006 and 2018, just 229 were completed.
The spokesperson added: “Within the findings of this appeal, the reporter determined that no education contributions were deemed necessary due to the school not being at capacity.
“We are therefore seeking to remove the requirement for the contributions for the first phase on the same basis.”
