Moray Council has approved a proposal for 870 new homes from Springfield Properties, alongside a range of community and neighbourhood facilities, including a sports centre and sites for two primary schools.

The planning application will see a new suburb spring up on the south side of Elgin and extend the settlement boundary.

The application is one of the biggest ever to come before Moray Council and represents the first phase in developing the Elgin Long2 South site as defined in Moray Council's current Local Development Plan

It follows the approval of the Elgin South Masterplan which will see around 2500 new homes built along with community, leisure and educational facilities.

Most of the land which will be developed during the first phase is currently agricultural and of the 870 houses, 217 will be affordable homes.

The application was advertised as a departure from the Local Development Plan and generated a formal objection from Pitgaveny Estate, which has its own proposals for a major housing development with associated facilities at Findrassie, on the northern outskirts of Elgin.

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Pitgaveny argued that the Springfield application was premature and that the application site was designated for potential long-term use beyond 2025.

They claimed that 870 houses would flood the market and impact across the whole of Moray by pulling housing demand disproportionately to Elgin and away from other areas.

Recommending approval of the application, council planning officers said that although it was a significant departure from the development plan they considered it was acceptable.

They said it would provide both affordable and open market housing, the delivery of which would help realise Moray's aspiration to contribute to the Scottish Government's national housing targets.

Their report to councillors also said: "The associated economic benefits with the related development proposals will help to secure Elgin's future sustainable economic growth as the primary centre of Moray, acting as a catalyst for further investment."

Some members expressed reservations that the agreed developer obligations from Springfield of £5.6million fell well short of the £13million which it will cost to provide and improve education, road and transport infrastructure in connection with the development. The £7.4millon gap will require to be funded by the council.

However, moves to recover the full cost from the developer were defeated after councillors were told it would render the entire development economically unviable.

The consent granted today is accompanied by 59 conditions to which the developers will be required to adhere. These cover a wide range of issues associated with the development.

(MH)