Controversial plan for housing at former Newport hospital site

Modern designs branded ‘hideous’ by some locals

Controversial plans for flats designed to take advantage of views over the Tay to the new V&A in Dundee have been submitted.

The former Netherlea Hospital in Newport could be demolished and replaced with four blocks comprising a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments.

If the plans from Sutherland Hussey Harris are approved, the developers say work on site could begin next year and be completed in 2019.

However, there is likely to be some opposition to the plans after locals branded initial designs “hideous” and “like Lego”, and baulked at suggestions the new homes could cost up to £650,000.

The new proposal would see the former hospital, which closed in 2011 and has since been targeted by vandals, flattened to make way for the development.

Sutherland Hussey Harris said the plan aimed to provide “new contemporary homes for local homeowners who plan to downsize”.

“Newport-on-Tay has many large Victorian villas but ver y few contemporary houses that provide modern qualities with the expansive views across the River Tay towards Dundee,” the company added.

“There are several flat types providing a variety of layout configurations, each with aspect to the river.”

The company said the housing units had been designed to “mediate between public and private space giving the resident opportunity to choose between the activity of the public spaces or privacy of private gardens”.

It added that the intention was to create a “distinctive” environment, both “contemporary and complementary to the quality of the wider area”.

It is understood the bid is not being treated as a live application at the moment, as more information has been requested by planners.

However, one comment on the Newport, Wormit and Forgan community council’s Facebook page labelled the apartments as “hideous concrete creations”, while another said the properties were “probably not within the reach of a lot of current Newport residents”.

There are several flat types providing a variety of layout configurations each with aspect to the river

A mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments could be built overlooking the river and the new V&A museum.