Hospital housing bid is deferred by councillors Plans to build homes at old Murray Royal Hospital site
Councillors have chosen to postpone ruling on two bids to build homes on a former hospital site in Perth - despite being told there is no immediate way to rid the area of existing traffic problems the proposed development would add to.
Transport planners told the council’s planning and development management committee last week they could not support Rivertree Developments’ recent applications to convert the former Murray Royal Hospital into flats and build another 70 homes within its grounds due to their concerns about the scheme’s likely knock-on effect on local roads.
And Councillor Willie Robertson asked during the meeting what measures could possibly be implemented in the area to cut traffic queues which frequently build up in the area at peak times a senior officer replied that only the proposed Cross Tay Link Road could alleviate the problems currently encountered by drivers.
His question came after
Developers want to convert the former Murray Royal Infirmary buildings into luxury flats objector Graham Fleming, a [traffic] numbers differ quite congestion.” former chairman of Bridgend, a bit from those submitted by And he continued: “There Gannochy and Kinnoull The Gannochy Trust [relating to are further remarkable and Community Council, savaged another application], allegedly substantial errors in the a transport assessment using the same 2015 base. applicant’s case. Astonishingly commissioned by the applicant “The applicant’s numbers are ... the applicant has omitted the which claimed queues in also significantly lower than [a] traffic from Main Street onto Bridgend during rush hour would 2016 traffic survey conducted by Perth Bridge and deducted the actually be shorter than they are Ryden and, in fact, the applicant’s estimated volume of Murray now once the development was numbers are even lower than Royal Hospital traffic in their fully occupied. those submitted by McCarthy and calculations, thereby contriving
“Instead of using an up-to-date Stone in 2013 for [their] Isla Road to produce a significant 42 per traffic survey, the applicant’s development. cent understatement of traffic traffic forecast is based on “The upshot is that the volumes. calculations from a 2015 base,” applicant’s transport “What is more, as well as using Mr Fleming told the committee. assessment provides no credible some questionable trip generation “Bewilderingly, the applicant’s representation of actual traffic numbers, the submission also fails to incorporate traffic generated by local developments at St Mary’s Monastery, Isla Road and Gannochy Road.
“The kind-hearted among you may say that everyone makes mistakes, but the local authority’s transport planners identified issues in the transport assessment and when they did so the applicant simply failed to do address them.”
But after a lengthy debate over the merit of the two applications Perth City South councillor Willie Wilson said he would rather defer considering them any further until he and other committee members had visited the area and council officers had worked with the developer to address the alleged shortcomings of their transport assessment.
“This is one of the most significant sites in the city ... and I think efforts need to continue to ... redevelop it,” he said.
“We have a stand-off with the developer about traffic. They’ve already been asked by [transport] planning ... to respond to our [questions] linked both to the studies that have been done around Bridgend and the consequences of the new road.
“I think that matter needs further discussion.”
The committee agreed to postpone deciding on both applications until at least its next