Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Holiday park plan for disused quarry site
Developers are bidding to construct a holiday park consisting of 140 lodges in a disused quarry in Airdrie.
The proposals for Airdriehill quarry – located between Rawyards and Plains – also include an amenity building able to house a shop, restaurant, bar and gaming room, plus a children’s play area and recreation space.
Site owners FCC Environment are currently running a virtual public exhibition on their plans, inviting comments until tomorrow – and aim to submit a full planning application to North Lanarkshire Council later this summer.
Company representatives say they are “excited to bring forward these proposals” and add: “Redevelopment of the site would ensure its future restoration, occupation and management while contributing to the local economy.”
They add that the project would result in “job opportunities and significant inward investment to this part of North Lanarkshire”, and contribute to the area’s “key growth sector” of tourism.
An initial proposal of application notice for the 36-hectare quarry – which was first worked on four decades ago and is unrestored since its last use in the 1990s – was first submitted to the council in January.
Known as Airdriehill holiday park, the project plans are to construct up to 140 self-catering holiday lodges – ranging from two to four bedrooms and each with two parking spaces – on the current quarry floor and contained within its existing steep walls.
Two years of restoration work would be required to import soil to restore the current hard-rock site and prepare it for development, while the site would be accessed by reopening a blocked former access onto Airdriehill Road.
FCC estates development manager Matthew Hayes told the Advertiser: “Key to this development is full restoration of the site and returning it to a productive and sustainable use, with the proposal representing a significant investment into the local area.
“Its location in central Scotland makes it ideally situated for holidaymakers looking to explore the surrounding area and the feedback we have received so far has been really encouraging.
“The vacant site currently represents a health and safety liability due to trespassers and risk of anti-social behaviour in the form of fly-tipping.
“Redevelopment would ensure future management of the site. The proposal uses previously developed land and works with the historic quarry features to create a unique and substantial holiday park with a secluded feel.”
It is expected to create around 25 jobs once the holiday park is operational, plus more for local firms and trades during the construction phase.
FCC are inviting comments on the project website and by phone, post and email, ahead of submitting the full planning application later this summer.
Should the development be given the go-ahead by North Lanarkshire councillors, they aim to start work on the site next spring with the two years of restoration and development then getting under way in 2024.
Its location makes it ideally situated for holidaymakers looking to explore the surrounding area