A major housing plan that could see 1,500 homes built along with a primary school on land to the west of Perth has been resurrected.
The Pilkington Trust will today re-submit the plan which may have huge ramifications for the Ruthvenfield/Huntingtowerfield areas of the city, with the proposed Almond Valley Village set to take shape on a 160-acre site there.
Mass house building was first suggested for the proposed site 25 years ago. The Almond Valley Village plan is one of several pencilled in for west Perth, with alternative proposals for housing at Bertha Park and a large development penned for Broxden still to be considered.
The revised plan comprises 1,500 homes, a primary school and leisure and retail office facilities to be built adjacent to Ruthvenfield and Huntingtowerfield.
A spokesman for property specialists Savills, who are acting on behalf of the Pilkington Trust, confirmed the plan will be re-submitted today.
Jonathan Henson, head of Savills’ Perth office said, “This new application presents an opportunity to finally take forward this significant development that has been needed for some time in Perth.
“If the city is to attract new businesses to Perth and encourage exiting operations to expand, there must be sufficient levels of good quality housing provided in sustainable locations to accommodate new residents and meet the forecast increased number of households.
“Now that the council’s housing strategy has been confirmed in the Local Development Plan, I would encourage everyone to engage in the consultation process in a positive manner so that the final masterplan can help deliver what Perth really needs to compete with other cities and become an evermore successful location over the coming years.”
Informal talks have already taken place with Methven and District Community Council following previous concerns raised by them.
Community council chairman Kenny Simpson, who is also a member of the Huntingtowerfield and Ruthvenfield Conservation Group revealed that the community council have had two meetings with the Pilkington Group but stressed no public consultations had taken place yet.
He expressed his surprise that the plan is now back for consideration by the local authority.
“I feel this plan has been given permission by the Scottish Government under false pretences,” he said.
“The council have said that no development could take place in this area until the roads infrastructure was improved but that has not happened.”
He continued: “We’ve met with the Pilkington Trust and spoken to their architects who are planning the landscaping work at Almond Valley.
“We met back in January and then last week, which was quite a gap, but the Pilkington Trust said planning matters were taking a while to come together.
“We have not said we will oppose this plan. The Pilkington Trust told us they want to take us on board with them but we did say we will wait and see what happens to see if local residents approve the proposals.”
He added: “When we heard the Scottish Government had decided to bring back Almond Valley into the adopted local plan I approached the council but was told it would cost too much money to fight this.
“However, we already have plans for Bertha Park and Broxden so we may end up with millions of houses in this area and they aren’t selling well just now.”