07 Jul Construction of 1,000 new homes in Aberdeen could start this October

Plans to build more than 1,000 homes on the banks of an Aberdeen loch have taken a step forward thanks to a new £11.5million deal.

The proposal for 1,067 properties at the Loch of Loirston was first submitted to the city council’s planning committee in June 2013.

An agreement has only now been reached between Aberdeen City Council and housing developers Hermiston Securities.

As part of the deal, the firm has agreed to give more than £4 million to Aberdeen’s strategic transport fund, which supports major infrastructure around the city.

The developers are aiming to begin construction by October this year.

It is likely to take at least 10 years before the entire project is complete.

Stewart McPhail, development director for Hermiston Securities, said: “We are committing to making payments to the council over the life of the project.

“We are also contributing to local improvements, in particular we are putting around £1,076,000 – £1,000 for each house – into improving infrastructure in the area, such as the roundabout to Cove.”

The developers have also agreed to give £7.6million to the city council to fund a new primary school in the new settlement.

Mr McPhail continued: “We think primary schools are a good thing because they help form a community, and encourage people to live there.

“Although it’s a local government requirement that we make a contribution, we generally welcome contributing, and prefer to have the school on our land. And it’s being located, as I understand it, immediately next to the proposed secondary school.”

Plans were initially submitted for a supermarket at the site, however these were rejected at a planning committee meeting last month after another store was approved nearby.