A £1 billion project that will provide housing, education and job opportunities for Perth’s rapidly-expanding population has taken a major step forward.
The 3,000-home community atBertha Park, on land beyond Inveralmond, on the outskirts of the city,will be developed over the next 30 years.
The company behind the proposal, Springfield Properties, has submitted its masterplan to Perth and Kinross Council, along with an application for planning permission in principle.
Details of the first phase were also lodged and, if approved, work could start on this element 1,000 new homes including private, affordable andretirement accommodation in 2017.
The proposed new community will cover an area of 333 hectares, which includes 25 hectares of land allocated for employment such as business parks, two new primary schools and a secondary school, plus shops, restaurants, medical, leisure and community facilities.
Over the next three decades thedevelopment could create more than 2,000 new jobs and help sustainhundreds more in the local area.
Springfield Properties chairman Sandy Adam said: “Bertha Park is an exceptional opportunity for Springfield Properties.
“It is one of the biggest-ever developments in Perth and is an entirely new concept for us rather than extending a community in an existing location, we are creating a new community.
“We are motivated every day by our vision to make Bertha Park an exceptional place for people to live and work. A welcoming place where there’s a home for everyone. A place where young people grow up, spread their wings and return to have their own family.”
Plans are already in place for a new 1,100-pupil secondary school, which will be completed in time for the 2018academic year. A new road the cross Tay Link Road will be integrated through the site, relieving trafficcongestion and providing access toBertha Park and the new school.
Springfield says it has taken design inspiration from Perth and thesurrounding villages to achieve atraditional look and feel for Bertha Park.
It stated careful planning has been carried out to ensure no home will be far from green space and each home will be built to be energy efficient, meaning lower energy bills while also reducing the household’s environmental impact.