Plans for 100 new homes on former Braeside school site paused in Aberdeen

Plans to build more than 100 new homes on the sites of the former Braeside school and Treetops hotel in Aberdeen have been paused to allow councillors to carry out a site visit.

Malcolm Allan Housebuilders is hoping to build 30 affordable houses on Braeside Place and a further 77 private homes on Springfield Road.

Braeside School closed in 2014 and the building was demolished in 2021.

Aberdeen City Council placed the 2.5 acre site on the market shortly afterwards.

It has been proposed that the homes there would be operated by Grampian Housing Association.

The development would include 20 three-bedroom houses and ten four-bedroom homes.

Meanwhile the Hilton Treetops Hotel closed in February 2020 and was demolished later that year.

The former hotel site could soon feature one and two-bedroom flats, three-bedroom town houses and a mix of three, four and five-bed detached and semi-detached homes.

The 33 flats would be constructed in a six-storey block with six flats per floor with each one to feature a balcony.

Council policy requires affordable units to be included in major housing developments.

While no homes of this kind will be included on the Treetops site, they will all feature on the Braeside site.

Therefore if the Braeside Place application is refused, the Springfield Road application would be removed.

A staggering 104 residents wrote to the local authority objecting to the Braeside plan while a further 117 voiced their disapproval of the Treetops proposal.

Those in opposition believed the sites should be used for other uses such as a new school or nursery, park or even accommodation for disabled people.

Others said the Braeside area was “quiet and not suitable for housing” and believed greenspace would be “eroded” due to the development.

Council planners even noted some concerns.

They noted that Airyhall Primary School and Hazlehead Academy are at capacity and suggested temporary accommodation would be needed to fit any additional youngsters.

Planners also mentioned that Seafield Road doctors surgery was said to be “struggling” with the number of patients it currently has while dental surgeries were also at capacity.

But despite their worries, officers recommended that both plans be approved.

Meanwhile those against the Treetops plan said the development “wasn’t required” due to the number of properties currently on sale in the city.

The applications went before Aberdeen City Council’s planning committee on Thursday.

Councillor Marie Boulton suggested members carry out a site visit.

She said: “I just feel that we’ve got to get it right if we want to take people with us.

“If it means a slight delay or amendment to a plan, if it brings people with us I would be happy to go on a site visit.”

Following a vote, the decision to carry out a site visit was backed by eight to five.

Both plans will go back before the committee again next Thursday.