Homes at former school approved

IT is hoped a new housing development on the site of a former Dundee primary school will help tackle long waiting lists for social homes.

Planning bosses at Dundee City Council have approved an application to build 21 houses and flats at the former St Vincent’s Primary on Pitkerro Road.

The old school was demolished in February last year after pupils moved to the new £17 million North East Campus in Whitfield.

Since then, the site has lain empty.

But now approval has been given for the development, submitted by KDM Architects on behalf of Angus Housing Association, which will consist of a mixture of houses and flats which will be made available for social rent.

It is hoped this will go some way to meeting the need for more social housing in the area.

The original planning application said 58 people were waiting for a two-bedroom flat and 44 were waiting for a three-bedroom flat in the Mid Craigie area.

In total, 75% of the homes will have three or more bedrooms, including six four-bedroom homes.

After a request from Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership, the development will also include a single-storey block of flats designed for tenants with special needs.

There will also be car parking, electric car charging points and a bicycle storage area.

The council has told the developer it must agree its proposed roads and footpaths before any construction work starts and said any existing accesses to the site that are no longer required should be turned into footpaths.

The local

authority added architects will need to plan landscaping of the site before starting, including deciding which existing trees, shrubs and hedges are to be removed and which should be kept, and where the new trees, shrubs, hedges, grassed areas and water features should be placed.

The developer will also need to submit a schedule of planting and green space maintenance to planning bosses, and any trees or shrubs at the site which are removed, die, become severely damaged or seriously diseased within the first five years must be replaced.

The development must be started within the next three years.

The housing association was approached for comment.

Jody Kelly, from Troon, is part of a team of artists that has been assembled by street art group Art Pistol to produce new work for The Clutha Bar’s mural, in Glasgow. The murals, which are being redesigned following damage due to the weather, were initially created as a temporary art installation around the building in the wake of the 2013 tragedy when a police helicopter crashed into the pub, killing 10 people.

The site of the former school.