Council leader says plans for Scotland’s tallest building to be built in Dundee are currently ‘absolute fantasy’

DUNDEE’S council leader has said that proposals to build a skyscraper on the city’s waterfront are ‘absolute fantasy at this point’.

Yesterday, InverTay homes launched an ambitious plan for a 141m tall structure between the V&A building and the Tay Road Bridge.

‘Discovery Heights’, featuring a shopping complex, five star hotel and luxury apartments, would become Scotland’s tallest building if it were to come to fruition.

But Councillor John Alexander said that the proposal came as news to him and his fellow councillors, and that another company already has a pre-planning application notice for the site.

In a post on Facebook, Councillor John Alexander wrote: “I feel the need to correct the “story” from Invertay and a few other things, as people are jumping to conclusions.

“I won’t pass comment on the actual proposal but this is news to me. In fact, it’s news to all of Dundee’s councillors.

“There is absolutely no planning application in for this. It does not conform to the Waterfront Development plan. It does not conform to the city-wide development plan.

“This company have no current interest in the site i.e no agreement about an exclusive negotiating period/ no offer/ no purchase of the land.

“There’s already a pre-planning application notice on the go. It’s with a completely different development and a different company so this might come as a shock to them.

“Basically, as we sit right now… This is just a “story” and to be honest, the whole thing seems like an absolute fantasy at this point.”

Site 12 of the waterfront, where the proposed building would stand, saw an application notice submitted by Keppie Design on behalf of Dawn Developments Ltd in October.

It stated that the plans are for a “mixed development including offices, hotels, housing and ground floor commercial units with parking and associated works”.

InverTay’s Director of operations Eddie Wighton told our sister title The Courier: “We’re a long way off in terms of it becoming a reality and in terms of a formal application or securing the site – but the building itself is quite advanced.”