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Major housing and business development set to regenerate 19th century city mill site

Plans by Stewart Milne Group Ltd to build around 900 homes on the site of the former Davidson’s Paper Mill at Mugiemoss Road have won the backing of Aberdeen city councillors.

The development will include business and community facilities as well as improved infrastructure, including footpath and cycle links to the River Don. There will also be a new spine road with access from the A947 Aberdeen to Banff road.

Members of the Council’s Development Management Sub-committee voted seven to four in favour of the application at a meeting today [29 September].

Sub-committee vice-convenor Councillor John Corall said: "This is a highly desirable development that will regenerate a prominent, not to mention historic, site in the west of the city.

"It will create much-needed and highly sought after housing that will no doubt be attractive to locals planning a move or families looking to set up home in the city.

"The inclusion of parks and shops, as well as the proposed leisure and community facilities, only strengthens my view that this development will be in high demand."

Margaret Bochel, the Council’s Head of Planning and Sustainable Development, said in a report to the committee: “The site is zoned for mixed use development in the adopted local plan.

“The redevelopment of the former Davidson’s Mill would regenerate a large and neglected part of the city by removing derelict mill buildings and transform a brownfield site into a new mixed use riverside community of up to 900 homes in compliance with development plan policies and Scottish planning policy.”

Her report said the scheme complied with adopted Local Plan policies. It also complies with the visions set out in the Aberdeen City and Shire Structure Plan (2009) which has allocated 36,000 houses to the City Council for the period up to 2030, with 15,000 of these properties earmarked for brownfield and regeneration sites.

Papermaking at the site started in 1821 and continued operation until the mill’s closure in June 2005. During this time it provided jobs for generations of families in and around Bucksburn. The mill’s dependence on water from the River Don restricted public access to certain sections of the riverbank, but it is hoped this new development will change that.

Approximately 88 acres of land will be developed by Stewart Milne Group Ltd with housing planned for the north and south of Mugiemoss Road. Some 10% of the housing (90 properties) will be affordable. Around 21,500sq ft has been earmarked for retail, leisure and community facilities and around 12,900sq ft for business start-up units.

A riverside park will be created on land beside the River Don at the northern edge of the site and the majority of existing woodland will be kept. In total, around 22 acres of public open space will be created. A feature of the open space will be the retention of the largest of the historic mill’s chimneys.

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