Development halted over flooding fears

A MOVE to bring a vacant Tayside mill back to life has been halted after objections about the risk of flooding.

Baltic Works in Arbroath has been a loom linen weaving factory and a whisky bond in its 165 years but has been empty for the last three decades.

Owner Cullross Developments submitted plans to Angus Council to transform the derelict factory into 24 flats, with a further 16 new-builds on the site.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said development could add strain to the nearby Brothock Water defence, which has a one-in-25-year flood risk. A one-in-200-year risk can be regarded as high for new buildings.

The developer has indicated it will reapply for a smaller development in the mill, without the new buildings.

Planning officer Stephanie Balman said: “The whole development site will be inundated during the 0.5% annual probability flood event. The proposed new flats will increase the number of properties and people at risk of flooding, and locating new development within the flood plain may also impact on the risk of flooding elsewhere.

“We are of the opinion that this development will increase the number of people living in an area at flood risk.”

Cullross Developments took on the project for client Hillcrest Housing Association.

The firm previously created the housing development on the former Dens Metal Works site at Dens Road in Dundee.

It took the project through the full design and planning permission phases before selling the site to Hillcrest.

The application notes the significance of the building to Arbroath’s heritage as one of the few remaining examples of the town’s industrial history.

A series of missing people investigations across Tayside in recent years.