Developers halt controversial care home plan

bIAirgowrie: Proposals to build on green space met with broad opposition

Developers have ditched highly controversial plans for new housing near a Perthshire care home after widespread opposition from locals.

A row erupted over proposals to build several “care cottage” homes on land near Golf Course Road, Blairgowrie.

Aberdeen-based Sted Investments applied for planning permission to transform a vacant plot next to the Beech Manor care home.

It followed a previous attempt by another company to building 16 properties around the same site.

The 2011 scheme by Argus Production, also based in Aberdeen, was rejected after complaints from neighbours, and a similar project was thrown out a year earlier.

Nearly 30 people objected to the latest bid, arguing it could cause a disturbance for care home residents.

Opponents claimed the new houses would see a huge increase in traffic which they say would pose a danger to motorists and pedestrians.

They said ambulances and other emergency vehicles – as well as bin lorries – would struggle to get in and out of the estate. There has also been concern about a lack of parking.

Now Perth and Kinross Council has confirmed Sted Investments has withdrawn its application. No one from the company was available to explain the reasons behind the decision.

One local, who asked not to be named, said that residents could now “breathe a sigh of relief”.

But he added: “I don’t think we’ve seen the last of this one though. I’m sure they’ll be back with another plan.”

In a letter to planning officers, one objector wrote: “This is another example of attempts to turn Golf Course Road into a highway with dozens of houses on every available piece of ground.

“Using the term ‘care cottage’ does little to disguise the fact that these will be houses with residents who will need cars to go about their daily business.”

She said the site was one of the last green spaces in the town and was regularly used by dog walkers.

The original plans for eight cottages and eight apartments was rejected by councillors who said it would have an “adverse negative impact on the density and character of the local area”.

Developers failed to get the decision overturned with an appeal to the Scottish Government.

The care home was built on the site several years ago, following the demolition of the Rosemount Golf Hotel.