CONTROVERSIAL plans to build flats in an outstanding conservation area will go before the city council this week.

But campaigners have called on Labour councillors to withdrawn from the vote on the planned development at A-listed Park Quadrant as a co-sponsor of the planning application is a company owned by the party’s biggest donor in Scotland.

Expresso Property from York is hoping to get full planning permission for the work at Park Quadrant which is said to be one of the finest examples of town planning in Europe.

It is represented by lobbying firm Bellenden which is owned by Mark Glover who gave £3600 to Scottish Labour during the Holyrood election campaign.

The plan for Park Quadrant has resulted in hundreds of objections and 81 letters of support.

It will complete a terrace of houses designed by Charles Wilson in 1851 which was never finished.

But objectors are worried about the impact on listed buildings in the area and are calling for the land to remain open space.

The planned development will result in 98 flats in a single curving block which will be six storeys tall.

There have been a number of previous bids to build on the site which the council bought in 1981 through compulsory purchase but work never started.

Planners say the latest scheme, which is estimated to cost £35million, has a high quality, contemporary design which is imaginative, innovative and sympathetic to local traditions.

The report adds: “The proposed building will not detrimentally impact upon landmark views of listed buildings or the prominent skyline of Woodlands Hill when viewed from elsewhere in the city.

“The proposed building materials are all of the highest quality and the proposal is considered to preserve the character and special interest of the listed building while preserving the character of the Park conservation area.

“The existing site does little to contribute to the historic character of the area, being unused for 30 years, overgrown and with invasive species self-seeding on site.”

But objectors say the design of the new building is out of character with the surrounding area, is too dominant and the design too contemporary.

They also claim Labour has failed to declare the link with Mark Glover during the planning process and want Labour councillors not to take part in any vote on the planning application.

A spokesman for Park and Woodlands Heritage Trust, said: “The only people who seem to be in favour of this scheme are Labour members of a Labour controlled council which stands to net millions from the sale of the land.

“We now learn the main cheerleader for the plan is none other than Labour’s biggest bankroller in Scotland.

“There is an identifiable financial relationship that has not been declared and it would be wrong to allow Labour members to vote on such a controversial scheme when they are so clearly conflicted.”