Clerical error delays legal agreement for controversial housing

HOMES: Almond Valley plan for 1,300 properties plagued by setbacks

A legal agreement which should see a controversial housing plan finally get the green light has been delayed.

The complex 650-page section 75 agreement is being scrutinised by three separate legal teams but once signed it will lead to a planning agreement for the Almond Valley scheme.

The plan is to build 1,300 homes on land between Huntingtowerfield and Ruthvenfield, along with a primary school and leisure facilities.

Almond Valley has been mooted for around 20 years and has faced the ire of some local residents, who oppose it. Long-term critic Kenny Simpson, chairman of Methven and District Community Council, has claimed the development would “completely ruin” the character of the area.

The plan has gone through a series of twists and turns, including a public inquiry and a hearing at the Court of Session. Perth and Kinross Council knocked the proposal back in 2004 and 2011, and then removed it from their local development plan in January 2012.

However, matters were turned on their head in October 2013 when the Scottish Government stated Almond Valley should be incorporated into the local authority’s adopted local plan. The council again rejected the plan in May last year but developers the Pilkington Trust appealed this decision to the Scottish Government’s directorate of planning appeals division and were successful.

But a required legal agreement between all parties has been delayed – for the fifth time this year. This means the document will now need to be lodged by August 31 with the Scottish Government reporter.

Previous requests for an extension of the timescale were requested in January, March, April and May for legal reasons. The latest request for a delay stems from a clerical error.

Alastair Wood, head of planning Scotland at Savills, who act on behalf of the Pilkington Trust, said: “The legal document has had to be re-issued for signature, but unfortunately one of the required signatories is now on holiday and will not return until early August.”

Mr Wood had recently claimed there is a “pent-up” demand for housing in Perth and that work could begin on the site next year.

One of the required signatories is now on holiday and will not return until early August. HEAD OF PLANNING ALASTAIR WOOD

The proposal is to build 1,300 houses on land between Huntingtowerfield and Ruthvenfield.