Backers of a £1billion new community in the north of Aberdeen have said the scheme will have a “significant” economic impact on the area.
The Grandhome Trust welcomed a council decision yesterday to grant planning permission in principle for the development of the first 4,700 homes.
Effectively a new town, the land at Grandhome Estate will be split into five neighbourhoods with shops, schools, community facilities and land for commercial use.
It is the first stage in a wider plan for the area, west of Whitestripes Avenue and north of the Parkway in Bridge of Don, with the potential for 7,000 properties to be built by 2030.
Bruce Smith, trustee and spokesman for the Grandhome Trust, said the scheme will help meet the city’s future housing needs.
He said: “Our vision is to provide an attractive and vibrant community in which to live and work, and which will contribute greatly to the long-term sustainability and success of Aberdeen.
“We will continue to work with the city council to ensure that our vision is realised throughout the subsequent stages of planning and during the actual creation of the first neighbourhoods and wider community in the years ahead.”
An economic impact assessment of the proposals found that the initial construction stage would support almost 600 jobs annually for about 15 years.
The projected total annual household expenditure has been projected as £110million, about half of which is expected to be spent in Aberdeen.
The first stage of 500 homes is expected to be completed in 2016, with the second phase of 1,800 due to start in 2018.
The timing is designed to coincide with the opening of a third crossing over the River Don in late 2015 and the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route in 2018.
At the planning development management committee meeting, Dyce, Bucksburn and Danestone councillor Neil McGregor moved refusal of the application on the basis that the local roads network would not be able to cope with the increased traffic.
His amendment was voted down by 12-3.
Planning permission is subject to a number of conditions, including a 25% level of affordable housing and a commitment to building a gypsy-traveller halting site.
The applicant will be asked if it is possible to build the travellers site in the first phase of the development. At present, it is not due until the third phase.