Saturday 25 September 2010

Whiteness Site for Sale

Whiteness for sale it seems

Someone has just pointed me in the direction of this newspaper item:

'Property agents Savills said they were marketing the Whiteness site at Ardersier as having potential for building renewable energy devices.

Owners, the Whiteness Property Company, already have outline permission for a 3,000 home community on the 816-acre site based around a small harbour.

Whiteness director Colin Whittle said yesterday: “We have never ruled out a joint venture.

“The skills of the board members were in preparing the site rather than building it out without a third party.”

He added: “We will consider more conventional residential development on one hand and on the other, we are prepared to look at short to medium term industrial development.”

He added that there had been interest from a number of parties, including international firms.

Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1934755#ixzz10YtMaWLZ

For background on this see:

THC Minutes where the agenda item links though to the Officer's reports and site plan for the consideration of the Whiteness Planning Application in Nov 2006

The Whiteness submission for the Main Issues Report of the Highland wide Local Development Plan indicates that the site can accomodate a doubling of the housing units from 1950 to 4000 (Para 312)

The Council's 'Summary of Issues and Recomended Responses' to the Main Issues Report for the Highland-wide Local Development Plan for their summation of representations to the MIR including Whiteness; listed as 'Colliers CRE - Whiteness Property Group (260)'

The Proposed Highland-wide Local Development Plan states:

The Whiteness development on the former Ardersier fabrication yard remains an important strategic development site. It has outline planning permission for 1,950 houses, will be subject to a Section 75 Agreement and an Access Management Plan and in terms of our spatial strategy remains capable of meeting some of the projected housing need over the period to 2031 (Map 8). There has been interest in the site in respect of other uses, particularly relating to its potential to deliver as part of the Scottish Government‘s National Renewables Infrastructure Plan and that potential will be supported by the Council should housing development not come forward for the site. For the purposes of the housing land supply, the effective land supply coming forward from Whiteness is set at 50% - on the basis that the balance will be geared more toward the tourism and leisure element of the housing market.

Currently the Whiteness Home Page :

Extract

320 ACRES (129 HA) FOR DEVELOPMENT WITH OUTLINE PLANNING CONSENT FOR INITIAL 1,950 HOUSES, HOTEL,

500 BERTH MARINA, RETAIL & LEISURE FACILITIES

POTENTIAL FOR FUTURE HOUSE NUMBERS TO BE INCREASED

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Highland-wide Local Development Plan - consultation starts this Friday

I have just contacted THC to see when the consultation on the HwLDP is due to start and have been informed as follows:

The consultation is going to commence this Friday, it will last 10 weeks and close on the 3rd December 2010.

More details will be available on the HwLDP blog - dates of all the events; details of where the plan can be viewed; how to make responses. The updated web page will go live on Friday Morning.

I know that some of our members have expressed negative feelings about the planning system, particularly recently but I would ask you, please, do not be deterred from taking part in this consultation. In fact, why not try to get more people involved?