800

That’s the number of new jobs a Scottish company wants to create in Angus

A Scottish based property development company have outlined their ambitious plans to invest £40 million throughout Angus in three separate development proposals and the (Angus County Press) caught up with the company behind the investment plans earlier in the week.  

Dan Macdonald, Chief Executive of Edinburgh based Macdonald Estates, said: “Though our proposals look very ambitious at a time when the financial and property markets are in paralysis and we are experiencing an unprecedented economic downturn we are determined at Macdonald Estates to buck the trend and create new opportunity.  

In Kirriemuir, we are working with our development partners, Muirhead Estates, to promote a mixed use retail, tourist and commercial development to serve the town.  This identifies a gap in the market for a medium sized supermarket which will also help kick start the early delivery of much needed business land in the area and thereby employment.  Once open, the supermarket would employ the equivalent of some 200 full-time jobs and in the short to medium term the employment land could generate a further 250 jobs.  Longer term we estimate that the scale of development within the business park could create a total of 500 – 600 new jobs.  We have submitted a planning application with Angus Council and are hopeful that a decision on this could be taken by the summer. 

In Brechin, we have been scouring the town for the past 12 months, identifying sites and I believe we have finally secured what we think is the most suitable site for a proposed supermarket.  We discovered some time ago that approximately 65% of Brechin residents leave the town to do their main weekly food shopping in Arbroath, Forfar or Montrose.  This is not sustainable.  Brechin deserves increased competition and choice and we hope our proposals will be welcomed by the local community.  The site we have identified on Montrose Street is capable of accommodating a much larger development but we feel our proposal for a store of 40,000sq.ft is more in keeping with the size of the town and its catchment.  A store of this size would employ the equivalent of 185 full-time posts once up and opened. 

We have held discussions with Angus Council and will be meeting with the Community Council in the near future to explain our proposals in greater detail and we expect to be in a position to lodge a planning application with the Council within the next few weeks”.  In Arbroath, where Macdonald Estates have been promoting development for the last 10 years the company are now looking to bring forward new proposals that could generate approximately 170 new jobs for the town. “We have lodged a fresh planning application for a retail development, comprising three separate retail units, extending in total to 36,000sq.ft. 

This proposal is an extension to the existing Westway Retail Park”, said Macdonald. “As many people in the town know, we were deeply disappointed that we could not deliver a new Asda for the town, but the Council made their decision and that is all history. We must move on and we are confident that if planning permission can be secured for this latest development then we will be in a position to announce occupiers for our proposed scheme. Compared to towns of a comparable size throughout Scotland, Arbroath is lacking in retail provision, capable of meeting modern day occupier requirements and there are a number of national retailers seeking to acquire space in the town.  The new stores we developed for Halfords and Acorn Pets are trading way beyond their initial expectations and this news helps encourage other retailers to look upon the town more positively than they may have done so in the past”. 

Commenting on the design of each of the schemes, Macdonald commented: “We have challenged our project team to be innovative, generate high standards of design and I think our proposals will create a modern, vibrant and welcoming environment.  We look forward to working with the local community and Angus Council to progress our plans over the coming months”.   Mr Macdonald defended criticisms that their development proposals were contrary to provisions within the new Angus Local Plan which sets out guidance on where development should take place throughout the County, saying: “Ideally we would have contributed and taken part in the Local Plan process but the timing of our proposal does not coincide with that of the Angus Development Plan. Though we identified the need for such a development some 2 years ago, it is only now that legal contracts on the land have been finalised. It is a similar story in Brechin, where there has been development pressure and known interest from foodstore operators to secure representation in the town for years.  Again, we could not form part of the local plan process as we did not secure our contract on the preferred site until January 2009. The review process for the new local plan started back in 2003.  From start to finish that is a 6 year process and whilst Angus Council have done a wonderful job in steering the Local Plan through the review process, including two separate Inquiries, the world has changed considerably in that time and particularly in these challenging times we, developers, planners, decision makers cannot stand still in the hope that things might happen. At any rate, under the new planning process, provision is made to take forward exceptions, and as a result we will pursue the planning application working with the local community and local authority to bring forward development that is needed and I am wholly confident that the studies we will be undertaking as part of this process will justify all that we are trying to achieve and much of the benefit of the towns and the wider Angus community”.  

Notes to Editors  

Macdonald Estates is a Scottish based property development and investment company focused on real estate development in a variety of sectors including retail, hotel and leisure, business space, town centre regeneration and masterplan conception and delivery. Established in 1998, the company has since been recognised as 10th fastest growing amongst the top 200 Scottish companies; voted Property Developer of the Year; awarded ‘Retail Times’ number one most productive Retail Park 2007 and is widely accepted as the leader in its field, having built approximately 2 million sq ft or thereby with an end value in excess of £200 million.   Typical of the type of projects undertaken by Macdonald Estates are retail parks, stand alone retail units, leisure units and mixed use town centre regeneration schemes with a retail core.  We are also actively involved in strategic residential town expansion sites. Dan Macdonald, Chief Executive was awarded ‘Most Outstanding Contribution to the Scottish Property Industry - 2006/2007 and was recently named as ‘Property Personality of the Year’ at the 2008 Scottish Property Awards.  A more detailed and comprehensive list of our projects and history can be found on our recently improved website www.macdonaldestates.co.uk  

For further information please contact: Neil Galloway, Macdonald Estates plc (Tel: 0131 225 3232).