Building a football training centre for children on a Dundee industrial estate would be “wrong, wrong, wrong”, a council meeting has heard.
Developers of the proposed Active Soccer project vowed to appeal after their plans were thrown out on Monday night.
The creation of a five-pitch indoor football centre at Baldovie Industrial Estate divided opinion in a lengthy debate.
The application was eventually defeated by 12 votes to eight at the development management committee.
The decision came even after the developer offered to give the site back to the council should an industrial use be found for it in years to come.
Donny Coutts, a representative for Active Soccer made the offer for temporary planning permission, but also said he would bet his own house on the site being vacant in eight years.
He argued that the city has decades worth of available industrial land, but Active Soccer would accept only five to seven years’ use of the building if necessary.
Councillor Ken Lynn was strongly opposed to the plan to convert the disused industrial building into a sports facility, despite the site already having approval to become a go-karting centre.
He said: “I hope we are not going to ride roughshod over our own planning regulations.
“Putting a football centre right next to a waste incinerator, which has a particular type of traffic, heavy goods vehicles, is just wrong, wrong, wrong.
“This is the wrong location for this development. I would ask the developers to be a little more intelligent and look for a more suitable site.”
Two previous applications for a similar use had been rejected by the council, but this was the first time it came before the committee.
There was no objection from the council’s roads department.
Councillor Mohammed Asif supported the plan and said he has to take his 11-year-old grandson through to Glasgow to use Active Soccer facilities.
He said: “I think Dundee is missing out. Active Soccer provides excellent facilities for children and has trained coaches. It is a well-known name and it has been around for years.
“We should grab every opportunity that comes to Dundee.”
The applicant also said the plan would have brought 30 jobs to Dundee as well as contract work to convert the site.
Councillor Georgia Cruickshank said she had difficulty understanding why a go-kart track was acceptable but football centre wasn’t.
After the meeting Mr Coutts said there was “no question” they would appeal the decision to the Scottish Government.