Agenda and minutes

Members were requested to intimate any declarations of interest in respect of the item on today’s agenda, thereafter, the following declarations of interest were intimated:-

(a)       Councillor Henrickson declared an interest by virtue of him being a season ticket holder with Aberdeen Football Club (the applicant) and also a shareholder for Aberdeen Football Club.  Councillor Henrickson left the hearing and took no part in the consideration of the item;

(b)       Councillor Alphonse declared an interest by virtue of her having business dealings with Stewart Milne, Chairman of Aberdeen Football Club.  Councillor Alphonse left the hearing and took no part in the consideration of the item;

(c)        Councillor Cooke declared an interest by virtue of him being a member of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce and also as a member of Strategic Development Planning Authority (SDPA);

(d)       Councillors Jackie Dunbar, McLellan and McRae declared an interest by virtue of their employment with Kevin Stewart MSP – Aberdeen Central, who had publicly supported the approval of the stadium;

(e)       Councillor Delaney declared an interest by virtue of him knowing some of the respondents who were due to address the committee;

(f)        Councillor Samarai declared an interest by virtue of her employment with Mark McDonald MSP who had publicly supported the approval of the stadium;

(g)       Councillor Hutchison declared an interest by virtue of (i) his employment with Kevin Stewart MSP who had publicly supported the approval of the stadium, (ii) his employment with the British Army regarding Gordon Barracks agreement with Aberdeen Football Club for the use of the training facilities at Gordon Barracks, (iii) his membership of Foundations of Hearts who partly owned Hearts of Midlothian Football Club, who had commented on the application and (iv) his small personal shareholding in Hearts of Midlothian FC who had commented on the application;

(h)       Councillor Copland declared an interest by virtue of him being a substitute member on SDPA; and

(i)         Councillor Boulton declared an interest by virtue of her being the Chairperson for SDPA.

All Councillors remained in the hearing with the exception of Councillors Alphonse and Henrickson who left before any consideration was given to the application.

The Convener proposed that the Committee suspend Standing Order 37.2 (Length of Meetings) to enable the meeting to continue beyond four hours, should it be needed.

The Committee resolved:

to agree to suspend Standing Order 37.2 (Length of Meetings).

The Committee had before it the minute of the previous Pre Determination Hearing of 13 September 2017, for information.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the previous minute.

Please note that all documents associated with this application including letters of representations can be viewed at the following link.  Please enter reference number 170021.

https://publicaccess.aberdeencity.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=OJMF3EBZIED00&activeTab=summary

The Committee heard from the Convener who opened up the hearing by welcoming those present and providing information on the running order of the hearing.  She explained that the first person to address the hearing would be Mr Gavin Evans and asked that speakers adhere to their allocated time in order for the hearing to run smoothly and in a timely manner.  The Convener also asked that those presenting restrict their comments to the further information that was submitted by the applicant, and not comment on the information that was discussed at the previous hearing.

The Committee then heard from Gavin Evans, Senior Planner, Aberdeen City Council who addressed the Committee in the following terms:-

Mr Evans explained that the site was zoned as Green Belt land in the Local Development Plan and, in brief, the proposal involved the following:

• construction of a 20,000 capacity, all-seated stadium, to the western part of the site.
• training facilities for the first-team – which included 3no full-size grass pitches, one of which would be floodlit;  an additional half-size goalkeeper training area and various smaller drill areas.
• 2no all-weather 4G pitches, both of which would be floodlit.
• A ‘fanzone’ area immediately adjacent to the east stand, comprising a hard landscaped area between the stadium and the adjacent changing facilities, intended to act as a focal point for supporters on arrival to the site.
• A single-storey pavilion building incorporating office space and changing facilities.

• 1392 car parking spaces within the site contained within 3 main car parks: to the northern side of the stadium and adjacent to the pavilion building;
• A visitors’ coach parking area, to the west of the stadium, which could accommodate up to 60 coaches for away supporters; 32 home coaches and 8 outside broadcast trucks.

In regards to planning policies,Mr Evans explained that the report, along with the report from the previous Pre Determination Hearing, set out the relevant policy context in detail.

Aside from detailed consideration of the merits of the design and specific impacts of this proposal, Mr Evans advised that there were matters of principle that must be considered in the planning authority’s assessment. The site’s location within an area designated as Green Belt meant that there were restrictions on development, with only certain specified types permitted by the applicable policy NE2.

The Development Plan identified two potential sites for a new community stadium, these being at King’s Links and Loirston respectively. Scottish Planning Policy and the Aberdeen LDP set out a requirement that significant footfall-generating uses would be located in accordance with a sequential test which promoted a town centre first approach. As the proposed site was outwith any identified centres, the sequential test required sites which might otherwise be preferable in terms of a specified hierarchy of centres to be ruled out.

Mr Evans noted that consultation responses were included within the report in full, however summarised the following responses.

In regards to the Aberdeen City Council Economic Development team, the following was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.