Plans for a £100million business park for Aberdeen took a major step forward yesterday.
City councillors unanimously backed new office complexes that will house the North Sea headquarters of two of the world’s leading energy corporations.
Further applications for access and transport links to the Prime Four site on the western edge of the city at Kingswells were also approved.
Members of the council’s development management sub-committee had previously supported outline plans for the first phase of the development, which has been described as a “world-class energy hub”.
The developer behind the scheme, Drum Property Group, has estimated the park will inject £300million a year into the local economy and provide 1,200 jobs when completed.
Drum director Graeme Bone said: “Naturally we are very pleased with today’s decision and in general with the level of support and interest shown by councillors and planning officials in the development of Prime Four.
“As we stated in the past, we have no doubt of Prime Four’s attractiveness as a business location for major multinational concerns and of its long-term potential to generate many billions of pounds of economic activity for Aberdeen and anchor thousands of jobs in the city for years to come.”
The two 100,000sq ft office complexes will house energy giants Apache North Sea Ltd and Nexen Petroleum UK Ltd, with work expected to start on site by the end of April. Committee convener Kate Dean noted the applications were no longer to be viewed as departures from the city’s local plan, as a new planning framework was approved by Scottish ministers and formally adopted last month.
Aberdeen Donside MSP Brian Adam welcomed the council decision last night.
He said: “It is good to see that, despite global economic concerns, business is still strong in Europe’s energy capital.” Prime Four has already submitted an application for the next stage of the project, which is a proposed headquarters and global training facility.
There are also plans for a “community hub” and hotel to serve visitors to the complex.
A consultation exercise is already under way with local community groups and residents in the Kingswells area.