Local authority planning officials have identified 48 potential developments which could shape the growth of the city over the next 20 years.

Developers submitted 126 bids for housing schemes, retail parks, offices, supermarkets and hotels in June as part of new planning rules designed to make the system more transparent.

Aberdeen City Council has now assessed the options against sustainability criteria and ruled out 78 of the proposals. A further 34 have been deemed “desirable” and another 14 “promising”.

They are now likely to go out for public consultation over the next two months, before potentially going forward for inclusion in the next local development plan.

Among the “desirable” and “promising” bids, which relate to 23 sites throughout the city, are proposals for about 33 residential developments, which could create the need for six new primary schools.

The successful plans could result in more than 20,000 houses being built on greenfield sites, and a further 4,500 houses on brownfield land zoned for development.

In addition, six new business or retail parks will also go forward to the next stage, as well as five hotels, three care homes and a private hospital.

Major bids which have cleared the first hurdle include a community stadium for Aberdeen Football Club and up to 2,000 homes at Loirston Loch, 800 homes and a hotel at Stoneywood Estate, 7,000 homes at Whitestripes, 1,000 homes at Craibstone, and the proposed Energy Futures Centre at Aberdeen Beach.

A retail park could be built at the Haudagain roundabout alongside 140 homes by Manor Walk, while at Kingswells two business parks have been successfully proposed for Home Farm, as well as another 530 homes in the community, and up to 2,000 houses and a primary school at Countesswells.

Allan Rae, of property firm Knight Frank, which had seven successful bids, welcomed the new development plan process.

“We certainly welcome the council’s identification of these sites but there’s still a long way to go,” he said. “I also think that on the surface the process has worked well in terms of getting to this stage, and there is certainly a lot of sense in what the council has put forward.”

Among the 78 schemes deemed “undesirable” were new residential developments at Clinterty, Bankhead playing fields, Scotstown Road, Kingswells east, Woodend Hospital, Peterculter north or west and Milltimber south.

Councillors will consider the report at next week’s full council meeting before consultation gets under way.

A proposed local development plan would be published about a year from now, with the council hopeful of adopting it in April 2012.

By Calum Ross

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