Scone residents fear way being paved for huge development

plan: Proposed roundabouts spark fears about future

It would be beneficial to allocate more land in the northwest portion of the site to achieve a more sustainable design solution. COUNCIL PROPOSAL

A new Perthshire masterplan has sparked fears that as many as 10,000 homes could be built on the edge of the region’s biggest village.

Community councillors at Scone fear the area could be swamped with new housing after proposals to scrap a huge section of protected greenbelt land appeared in an updated area blueprint.

The Local Development Plan (LDP) is put together by Perth and Kinross Council every five years as a guide for future development and land-use.

When it was last adopted in 2014, it pledged to retain a large greenbelt around Scone and neighbouring Perth.

Now the latest version of the plan, which has gone to public consultation, suggests a boundary change which effectively frees up a massive area to the north and north-west of Scone.

The move will tie in with plans for the long-awaited Cross Tay Link Road (CTLR), which connects the A93 at Scone to the A9.

The amended plan is the latest headache for community councillors, who recently raised concerns about separate plans to build 700 homes on land between Spoutwells Drive and Angus Road.

They now fear the removal of greenbelt land could pave the way for an even bigger expansion.

The group’s planning convener, retired civil engineer Donald McKerracher, said there is nothing in the proposed LDP to say what the land will be used for.

He said: “There’s a series of roundabouts proposed as part of the new link road. And that has really set alarm bells ringing. There are two which have been placed effectively in the middle of the countryside, and there doesn’t seem to be any need for them unless they will be used as access points.”

Mr McKerracher said: “The link road is intended to facilitate traffic moving at a moderate speed to travel between the main trunk roads and to ease congestion and air pollution in the Bridgend and central Perth area.”

He said the road was not meant to be used for direct access to housing.

“The roundabouts should not be incorporated in the design of the CTLR purely to facilitate housing developers,” he added.

The council proposal states: “It would be beneficial to allocate more land in the north-west portion of the site to achieve a more sustainable design solution.

“The preferred option is to redefine the boundary.”

A public consultation of the development plan will be held in Perth Concert Hall on Saturday from 11am to 3pm.

There are proposals to scrap a considerable section of protected greenbelt land.