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 who had publicly supported the approval of the stadium;

(e)       Councillors Bell, Grant and Yuill declared an interest by virtue of being a member of SDPA;

(f)        Councillors Allard and Delaney declared an interest by virtue of them knowing some of the respondents who were due to address the committee;

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

(h)       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;

(i)         Councillors Copland and Donnelly declared an interest by virtue of them being substitute members on SDPA; and

(j)         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 Committee conducted a site visit prior to the Hearing on Monday 11 September.  The Committee was addressed by Mr Gavin Evans, Senior Planner, who summarised the proposal for the overall site.

The Convener explained that the Committee would reconvene at the Town House to commence the Hearing on Wednesday 13 September at 9.30am. 

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

Due to essential maintenance on the planning website, these documents cannot be accessed until Friday 8 September.

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 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 extended to 24.5 hectares and was located at West Kingsford, on the north side of the A944 dual carriageway, between Kingswells and Westhill – the A944 ran along there, to the south of the site.  Westhill lay approximately 500m to the west, whilst the Prime Four Business Park was around 1km to the east, with Kingswells immediately beyond.

The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) was currently under construction approximately 450m to the east of the site, with a grade-separated junction formed where it met the A944.  The western edge of the site abuts the Brodiach Burn, which at that point represented the boundary between Aberdeen City and Shire.

To the south of the site were six houses, four of which were clustered together along Old Skene Road, directly to the south of the proposed stadium, and the remaining two – Holmlea Cottage and West Kingsford – sat apart, accessed via the A944 directly.   The site was zoned as Green Belt land in the Local Development Plan.

Mr Evans went on to advise that the proposal involved the following:

• construction of a 20,000 capacity, all-seated stadium, to the western part of the site. As noted on site, the stadium sat due north of the residential properties on Old Skene Road. The South stand lay between 65 and 80m away from the 4 residential properties at the nearest point;
• training facilities for the first-team would include 3 full-size grass pitches, one of which would be floodlit;  an additional half-size goalkeeper training area and various smaller drill areas. These were located to the north-eastern section of the site;
• 2 all-weather 4G pitches, both of which would be floodlit. These were located to the north of the Holmlea Cottage property, which sat just to the east of Old Skene Road, on the other side of the main vehicular access junction to the site. The darker green shown on the plan between Holmlea Cottage and those pitches reflected a 12m deep landscape planting belt;
• A ‘fanzone’ area was 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. The applicants envisaged this as a flexible space, with opportunities for pre-match entertainment, with potential for live music, DJ’s or community music projects;
• A single-storey pavilion building incorporating office space and changing facilities, which would later be vacated by the professional staff to allow use by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.