View the Blackness Business Place Plan (4.62MB PDF)
General Economic Development Areas (GEDA) are vital to the supply of land for business and employment across Dundee, particularly for small to medium businesses. Despite the many successful businesses located within the Blackness GEDA, the area is underperforming in business terms, with notable levels of vacant, derelict and underused land and buildings. ‘Proposal 1: Blackness Regeneration’ of the newly adopted Local Development Plan 2019, brings this issue to the fore and commits the City Council to tackling the situation.
In response, the proposed Blackness Business Place Plan has been created to stimulate development within the Blackness GEDA, primarily by introducing further, complementary, land uses.
The unique characteristics of the Blackness GEDA set it apart from the City’s other GEDAs. Conservation area status, multiple listed buildings and heritage links create a strong sense of place, while the area’s strategic location has allowed alternative uses to emerge over time. This framework intends to strengthen and enhance these characteristics by introducing further land uses to create a successful place to invest, work, live and visit.
Furthermore, the framework highlights the potential to make the Blackness GEDA a more vibrant and high quality place by improving the quality of the built environment; increasing connectivity; and making the area more attractive, safe and welcoming.
Update
Since the plan’s original publication during December 2019, changes to planning legislation around ‘use class’ and ‘permitted development’ has prompted an update to bring the plan into alignment with the legislation and to prevent any unintended consequences of the change. The specific legislative changes are set out below.
Amendments to ‘The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Order 1997’ has combined the former Class 1 (shops) and Class 2 (financial, professional, and other services) into a single Class 1A (shops, and financial, professional, and other services).
Amendments to ‘The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992’ has introduced new ‘change of use’ permitted development rights between use classes. Of particular relevance to this plan are the permitted changes between Class 1A and Class 3.
Importantly, none of the plan amendments alter the scope, intentions or opportunities that were presented in the original 2019 version.