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Planning Reference – 191904

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Planning Officer:  Gavin Evans

The Committee heard from the Convener who began by welcoming those present at the remote Hearing and provided information on the running order.  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 Mr Gavin Evans, Senior Planner, who addressed the Committee in the following terms:-

Mr Evans advised that the application site was that of the former Silverburn House office complex, located immediately to the east of Ellon Road (A92), adjacent to its junction with the Parkway. The 3.7 hectare site was enclosed by roads on three sides, and to the north lay the Silverburn Gymnastics Centre and Silverburn Lodge, which was understood to contain both office and nursery uses.

Mr Evans displayed a number of photos of the site in order to give members a better sense of the application site.  The application was for the erection of a residential led, mixed use development of around 100 to 150 units including facilities consisting of approximately 1000-3000 sqm of Class 1 (shops), 2 (financial, professional and other services) and Class 3 (food and drink) with associated works.

Mr Evans noted that the application was subject to statutory Pre Application Consultation, which included a public meeting at the gymnastics centre, advertised in advance in the local press.  The applicant/agent and officers presented to the Pre Application Forum in September 2019, which gave members early notice of major proposals ahead of submission.

Mr Evans advised that the application was for Planning Permission in Principle which meant that the layout shown was merely indicative and intended to demonstrate the feasibility of satisfactorily accommodating development at the scale proposed in general terms.   If approved, conditions would be used to set out which matters required further consideration and these would be the subject of further applications for the approval of Matters specified in conditions, with further consultation and opportunity for public engagement on the detail at that time.

Mr Evans highlighted that due to the scale of the proposal, a Masterplan was required, and the applicants had prepared a Masterplan document in support of their proposal, which established key design principles against which subsequent applications would be compared. This noted that little change in ground levels was anticipated, and highlighted opportunities for the realignment of the Silverburn route, which was currently within a steep-sided channel.

Mr Evans explained that the indicative layout showed eighty private 2 and 3 bedroom terraced dwellings, two 3-bed maisonettes, 290sqm of commercial space suitable for a small-scale retailer and coffee shop, and 30 affordable flats within a 3-storey block at the Ellon Road side of the site, for a total of 112 units with 211 car parking spaces. The layout offered a number of pedestrian connections to the surrounding area, which included to Ellon Road. 

It was noted that an existing access off Claymore Drive, which served  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.