House builder Persimmon Homes has won a lengthy legal battle to redevelop the site of a Dundee school into a 62-home development.
In a judgement this week, Scotland’s Court of Session ruled in favour of the home builder, overturning a decision by the Scottish Ministers.
Persimmon bought the brownfield site of Kingspark School from Dundee Council for around £3.3 million in 2016, with the intention of turning it into housing.
However, after a campaign by local residents, the council rejected Persimmon’s plans in March last year, even though the development was recommended by its planning officers.
Persimmon appealed to the Scottish Ministers, who backed the council’s decision.
However in this week’s ruling, judges at the Court of Session disagreed, saying that the development should be allowed.
They ruled that the Scottish Ministers’ planning officer, known in Scotland as a ‘reporter’, failed to take into account “material considerations” in a report written by the council’s Director of City Development, as well as provisions in the local development plan.
Persimmon Homes Limited v the Scottish Minister
First Division, Inner House, Court of Session (Lord President, Lord Menzies, Lord Brodie) 15 May 2019
