Dundee regeneration on track with new railway station plans

PLANS for a £14 million railway station, hotel and office development will be submitted to Dundee planners tomorrow, marking the latest phase in the £1 billion transformation of the city’s waterfront.

The new complex, which will replace the existing 1960s station building, will also offer retail space and form one of the core structures in the massive regeneration project.

Recently it emerged that Dundee Waterfront – a joint venture between Dundee City Council and Scottish Enterprise – had secured some £300m of investment, getting on for a third of its overall target.

The project’s backers are planning boulevards and squares with flats, cafes, restaurants and offices. A £45m outpost of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum will form the centrepiece of the scheme.

Earlier this year, boutique hotel operator Malmaison said it would begin work in the spring converting the decaying Tay Hotel, a recognised landmark building adjacent to the station.

Mike Galloway, the council’s director of city development, said the wave of investment was expected to create as many as 9,000 jobs, both through construction and long-term in retail and leisure posts.

“We are building the ‘new’ Dundee and are already on track to meet our target of attracting £1bn of investment,” he added. “Increased investment and growth will generate millions of additional visitors, and hundreds of millions of pounds of revenue, so it is essential that they arrive at a railway station that clearly signals that Dundee is well and truly open for business. We believe these plans support our wide ambitions.”

The proposals for the station replacement are due to be submitted tomorrow to the council’s policy and resources committee for outline approval.

The 30-year waterfront masterplan, which began in 2001, spans some 240 hectares of land stretching for 8km along the Firth of Tay.