Green light recommended for 100 new homes on site of former Guide Dogs centre.

DEVELOPMENT: 100 new properties proposed for Forfar

Planners are recommending the green light for 100 new houses on the site of Forfar’s former Guide Dogs training centre – more than a decade after the closure of the facility.

A mix of two, three and four-bedroom houses is being proposed by developer Scotia Homes – including 15 affordable homes – on the 5.3 hectare Dundee Road site where Princess Alexandra House stood for more than four decades until the charity moved to a new centre at Orchardbank Business Park in the town.

Guide Dogs was granted outline approval for up to 120 houses on the land as far back as 2006, but the economic downturn led to a struggle to find a developer and the site has been empty since the centre’s demolition in 2007.

The development is arranged predominantly around a central spine road running east-west and connecting to the existing access serving the site from Dundee Road.

But while the proposal is set to generate a significant six-figure education windfall and has received a conditional approval recommendation from Angus planners ahead of a development standards committee decision tomorrow, it has also led to almost 30 letters of objection, including a petition containing more than 50 signatures of local residents.

They say the site is not fully integrated and are concerned about issues including amenity impacts on existing residential properties and habitats, parking and open space provision. There is also opposition to a proposal to create a new junction on Northampton Road.

Planners state: “The roads service has advised that use of Northampton Road by the traffic associated with an additional 10 houses does not give rise to any unacceptable impacts in terms of road traffic or pedestrian safety and is acceptable.”

The roads service has advised that use of Northampton Road by the traffic associated with an additional 10 houses does not give rise to any unacceptable impacts

The centre in Forfar closed more than a decade ago.