Final go-ahead for 200 homes at firehit Strathmartine

The long-awaited development of Strathmartine Hospital has cleared its final planning hurdle.

And there are hopes the diggers will move in soon to start work on more than 200 homes there.

But councillors say lessons must be learned over the saga surrounding the sprawling site.

It has drained emergency resources for decades.

Strathmartine has been a magnet for firebugs and vandals since NHS Tayside finally shut its doors in 2003.

The one-time Baldovan Institution for “imbecile and idiot children” has witnessed hundreds of incidents.

The latest occurred as recently as last week.

Angus development standards committee considered a detailed masterplan for 212 new homes yesterday.

Permission for the conversion, restoration and extension of the hospital administration block and cottage into 12 houses has already been approved.

There will be 28 affordable homes built on the Ashton Terrace side of the site.

An additional £700,000plus is being commuted for more social housing elsewhere in Angus.

And the education contribution from the scheme will be almost £2 million.

A large part of that will go towards increasing the capacity of Strathmartine Primary School.

Almost 240 trees will be felled on the site – around half of those for health and safety reasons.

But councillors heard replacement planting will eventually see almost 1,000 trees added.

The project is to be phased over six years.

Planning agent Robert Evans said Miller Homes and Chamberlain Developments welcomed the conditional approval recommendation from officials.

“It has been a long, winding and bumpy road,” he said.

And he said the developers had tried to respond positively to local objections.

It has included increasing parking in the area of Ashton Terrace and dropping a plan for construction traffic to use that road.

Montrose SNP councillor Bill Duff said lessons must be learned from the saga of the brownfield site.

“We often talk about winwin situations, but I think here we have a quadruple win,” he said.

“The NHS has obviously received a significant bounty for the site.

“There is a plus for the council with social housing and significant money going in to primary and secondary education.

“And there is a win for the fire service and police because Strathmartine Hospital has been a huge burden on both of those with fire-raising and vandalism over many years.

“But when the NHS leave a site they just lock the door, employ a security guard and leave the council and the emergency services to deal with all the problems.

“I don’t think that’s particularly acceptable to me.

“If it was a steel plant or a chemical plant they wouldn’t be allowed to do that. I think that’s a thing we need to think about – a bit of joined-up thinking.

“But I’m very pleased to see this and I wish them every success to get the job done.”

Councillors unanimously backed the official green light recommendation.

It’s not uncommon for The Courier to feature a story about Strathmartine Hospital. But it is unusual to be bringing positive news about the abandoned NHS property on the outskirts of Dundee.

The confirmation that more than 200 new homes, including badlyneeded social housing, are set to rise from the rubble marks a welcome milestone in the saga of Strathmartine.

The derelict site has been a magnet for vandals since it was closed by NHS Tayside in 2003.

We have reported on countless fires there and the emergency services have wasted huge sums on dealing with break-ins and outbreaks.

Locals and politicians have also campaigned long and hard for action, amid fears intruders would come to harm. They include Gaynor Robertson, whose 13-year-old son Jonathan died after a fall at nearby Baldovan House, since demolished.

So while applauding the approval of the Strathmartine masterplan, it’s entirely fair for Angus councillors to demand lessons are learned from the long-running wrangle.

The owners of redundant buildings have a duty to society to maintain and protect them – and to actively seek a new future for them, particularly if they are in public ownership.

Local councils everywhere must ensure they provide a process that gives a fair say to neighbours and other interested parties, without leading to needless costly and potentially ruinous delays.

PLANNING: The former Strathmartine Hospital just outside Dundee will give way to more than 200 new houses.