Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Club signals vision for 15,000-seat new home
THE dream of a new home for Dundee FC appears to be back on, after the club formally submitted planning papers outlining its vision for a 15,000-seater stadium, hotel and housing development next to Camperdown Park.
A proposal for application (PAN) has been received by Dundee City Council – the first step in a lengthy planning process for any major development.
A PAN is not a planning application – rather, it notifies a local authority of the intention to submit one in the near future. As such, a lot of crucial details are still being ironed out by the applicants.
Nevertheless, it provides some useful information about the general plan – and the report submitted by Dundee FC provides a few new details about what’s being proposed for the so-called “Nou Campy”.
According to planning documents, the stadium would include bars, a club shop and museum, while the surrounding mixed use area would feature a 100-bedroom hotel, restaurants, pubs, gym and a crematorium.
In addition, 140 houses and 70 apartments would be built to the north of the stadium site, with a football training facility on ground to the west of the site.
While it all sounds very exciting, this is not the first time Nou Campy has reached this stage of the planning process.
The Dark Blues first submitted a PAN to the council in 2017, but the plans ultimately never progressed.
However, there is now fresh hope that the club – recently relegated from the Scottish Premiership – can take forward its ambitious plans.
In accordance with planning rules, a public consultation must be held within 12 weeks of the PAN being submitted to the council.
This gives people a chance to hear about the idea and submit their views – good or bad.
Dundee will hold exhibitions of its proposals at the Landmark Hotel on September 26 from 2-7.30pm and online on October 24 between the same times.
The developer must then collate this feedback for submission at the next stage of the planning process.
With the views of the public taken on board, the next stage is to submit a formal planning application.
Documents will include specific details on the buildings and how they will look, work needed on the land, the environmental impact and the feedback received during the consultation.
The documents will also likely address other issues such as transport.
Given the location of the proposed new stadium next to the Kingsway, this is likely to be a crucial element of Dundee’s application – as they will need to prove to council planners that they have addressed concerns around access, congestion and safety.
A video produced by the club shows a slip road coming directly off the Kingsway into a car park for the new stadium.
With a minor access road the only other way to get into the site at present, addressing how the area would cope with an increase in thousands of traffic movements every week could be central to whether the application gets support.
One option could be for the club to fund junction upgrades, but this would be costly.
The full planning application can only be submitted once the PAN and consultation stages have been completed.
Major developments like the proposed stadium must go before a full meeting of councillors for the final say.
The council would have four months to determine the application.
Often they will use this time and more so an extension may be necessary.
It is likely it would be five to seven months from submission before it gets to committee – and that’s with a good wind.