A north-east council is being urged to intervene and ensure an unfinished housing development is completed – more than a decade after work first started on the site.
Avant Homes, formerly known as Bett Homes, was given permission to build 300 homes at the former Kingseat Hospital site, near Newmachar, in 2004.
The first residents moved into their new homes in 2006, but there remains a section of the site which has still to be developed.
In addition, under the terms of the original planning consent, the developer is obliged to build a children’s play park, which has still to be constructed.
In a letter to head of Aberdeenshire Council’s planning and building standards officer, Robert Gray, the council’s planning head, East Garioch councillor Martin Ford, claimed the developers have been “unfair and unreasonable” to residents.
“The normal position is that once a development is started, how long the work takes is a matter for the developer and will depend, for example, on market conditions or the developer’s other priorities,” he said.
“If the council gives consent for a development, it’s permission to build it, not an instruction.
“For many years in the north-east, planning permissions for housing have generally been implemented in full reflecting the demand for new homes. Kingseat has not followed this pattern, however. With most of the former hospital buildings converted, work then stopped.
“It is completely unfair to Kingseat residents for the developer to leave the site unfinished on an on-going basis. If the council can do anything to get the developer to resume work, it certainly should.”
Last night, Aberdeenshire Council said it was investigating the matter.
Avant Homes confirmed it was planning on selling the remainder of the site.
“We are aware of Councillor Ford’s concerns and have discussed these with him. We are currently in talks to dispose with the remainder of the site to allow development works to continue,” a spokesman said.
“The issues regarding public safety will be addressed but we cannot at this time make any comment in respect of the site being incomplete due to these ongoing negotiations.”