| Lochee West councillor and administration leader Jill Shimi said today redevelopment could include retail, housing and office uses as well as a new public square.
“The Highgate centre has recently changed ownership and the council is currently discussing the potential for demolishing it and redeveloping it,” she said.
Mrs Shimi was responding to a call by the council’s SNP group for a consultation exercise to find out the views of local residents and the preparation of a masterplan for revitalising the centre of Lochee.
The Nationalists claimed the decision to allow Lidl to open a small supermarket in South Road demonstrated that the council’s plan to re-use the Highgate Centre was outdated and needed a serious rethink.
On Monday night the development quality committee voted by 23-2 to approve a planning application by Lidl for the a new store on the site of the former Parrot Pine furniture store.
Mrs Shimi said there was no need for a study to find out what Lochee residents wanted; that was already known.
“They want a vibrant district shopping centre that combines the charm of yesteryear with modern shopping,” she said.
“I am astonished the SNP have called for a study to find out what we already know.”
She said approval of the Lidl application was a step in the right direction. “At the development quality committee I moved approval of the Lidl application, seconded by (Lochee East) councillor Charles Farquhar and supported by Lord Provost John Letford.
“It was noticeable — and I’m sure will be noted by the people of Lochee — that not one SNP member spoke in the debate.”
Mrs Shimi said council officials were working hard to reconfigure existing plans for Lochee High Street and the Stack Leisure Park.
“There is already a planning application under consideration for re-using the Stack as a mixed leisure and retail complex,” she said. |
