Aberdeen FC have now lodged plans with the council to create a new £40-million stadium. It’s not planning application yet, but a crucial step to relocate from Pittodrie by 2020.

Aberdeen have lodged a screening request to seek council planners’ views on the development with the intention to submit a full planning application in the future.

Proposals lodged with the city council were first revealed in May. They include a brand new football stadium as well as the creation of a football academy, parking, landscaping and engineering works.

The development would be built beside the A944 Aberdeen-Westhill road and the city’s under-construction bypass. The site has been identified after previous attempts to build a stadium at Kingswells and then Loirston fell through.

In a statement on behalf of Aberdeen, Scott Leitch, associate planning consultant for Halliday Fraser Munro, said the overall impact will be less than if a business park or housing was built on the site.

He said: “The overall character of the area, along the A944 corridor has been evolving for a number of years. The ongoing development of the Prime Four Business Park to the east, the Kingshill Business Park to the west and the construction of the AWPR has reduced the open, rural feel of the area.

“The proposed stadium development will continue this pattern, although the overall impact will be less than if a business park or residential development was proposed on the 24.5 hectare area.

“The main building/structure will be the stadium itself, which will be designed to become a landmark building for the North-east.”