Homes bid row
Petition against Gladman scheme
Villagers in Strathblane are battling a no-win-nofee firm of development consultants over plans to build new homes there.
Gladman Developments has indicated to Stirling Council that they are considering submitting a planning application for more than 70 homes plus a cemetery on two fields south of Broadgate House in Campsie Road.
The site is currently greenbelt but part of it is identified in both the adopted and proposed Stirling local development plans for an extension to Strathblane’s Cemetery. It is adjacent to the 28 homes built by Cala for Rural Stirling Housing Association.
Gladman representatives , who are acting on behalf of the owners of the land, Charles Connell Holdings, have not yet submitted a planning application for the scheme.
But the Cheshire-based company, described as a “strategic land promotor“, have carried out a three-month consultation on the proposal.
The scheme attracted criticism from villagers with 190 signing a petition urging Stirling Council to adhere to its development plan and reject the homes proposal. A questionnaire seeking views on the plan was also sent out to villagers and of the 212 responses, 206 were against the homes development, five in favour and one ‘didn’t know’.
Community councillors are now awaiting Gladman’s response to the consultation, which has now closed.
Stirling Council roads and land manager David Crighton confirmed to MSP Bruce Crawford they intend to proceed this year with a cemetery extension on land off Campsie Road earmarked for the purpose. The existing cemetery in Strathblane has only seven years of use remaining based upon current interment levels.
Mr Crighton said they had met representatives of Gladman and the landowners who indicated they wanted the land designated for housing and did not want to sell it for cemetery provision.
He added, however: “I would reiterate that as the proposed cemetery development has been accepted by the council and the community as part of the Local Development Plan; this is a proposal that we intend to pursue.”
Strathblane Community Council chairman Margaret Vass said part of the development site had been identified for a burial ground in the last two local development plans.
“We cannot see any grounds for planning permission being granted,” she added. “We hope the landowners will acknowledge the strength of feeling against the proposed development and opt not to submit a planning application. We have had the Cala development and another, at Westpoint, approved, and the village is happy to grow to meet the needs of the community.
“However, villagers are not happy to become a commuter area of Glasgow which is what will happen if this development goes ahead. These homes will not be for Strathblane residents but for Glasgow commuters.”
Mr Crawford, who has met with concerned residents to discuss the proposed development, said: “I have told the developer that I cannot support their housing plans. They clearly fly in the face of the recently-agreed Local Development Plan and, in any case, Stirling Council is already committed to additional cemetery provision for Strathblane on this site. It is time for Gladman to withdraw their plans.”
A council spokesman confirmed that all the land earmarked for the Gladman plan was green belt.
She added: “There has, both in the adopted local plan, and the proposed plan, been an allocation in the locality for a cemetery extension. However there is no allocation in either plan for housing development on any part of their proposed site.
“Any potential developer is entitled to submit an application for any form of planning permission and have it considered appropriately.”
Neither Charles O’Connell Holdings nor Gladman wished to comment on the homes proposal at the moment.
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