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-use classes 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.
Public consultation on the proposed framework will run from Thursday 29th August 2019 to Friday 11th October 2019 and comments can be submitted via the following email address: localdevplan@dundeecity.gov.uk(link sends e-mail)
Please focus your comments on the planning aspects presented within the proposed Design Framework and state the address of any building/site specific comments.
Comments on the proposed framework will then be taken into consideration and a finalised draft will be considered by the City Development Committee during December 2019.
Dundee City Council
Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.
