Update on Park of Keir
£40m development latest
A bid for more transparency over the negotiations to progress the controversial Park of Keir development is to be heard tomorrow (Thursday).
Two local councillors are hoping to win backing from colleagues across the chamber at a meeting of Stirling Council.
The planned £40 million development, backed by Judy Murray, includes a tennis and golf centre, museum, 19 luxury houses plus a 150-bed hotel.
It was given the green light from the Scottish Government despite an independent reporter, who chaired a public inquiry into the proposal, recommending refusal.
Scottish Minister for Planning Kevin Stewart approved the application for the development on green belt between Dunblane and Bridge of Allan in August.
In November the Scottish Government reporter for the Local Development Plan review went against the Minister’s decision by rejecting a bid by developers Park of Keir Partners to have the site included in the LDP. The opinion, however, did not override the Minister’s approval of the application.
Ministers said they were minded to grant planning permission in principle subject to a Section 75 legal agreement being reached between the developers and Stirling Council.
Three conditions were imposed meaning there must be no further residential development on the wider site; the developer should specify how accessibility and affordability of the sports facilities should be achieved; and they should secure education and affordable housing contributions to Stirling Council.
Since then things have gone quiet, with little if any information as to how negotiations between the council and the developers may - or may not - be progressing, and what they may entail.
Green councillor Alasdair Tollemache and Tory councillor Douglas Dodds, who both represent Dunblane and Bridge of Allan, want more information to be made public on the talks.
Their motion asks councillors to agree that: “The council recognises the desire of the communities of Dunblane and Bridge of Allan to see a transparent process over the negotiation of conditions relating to the planning application for the Park of Keir.
“Council resolves that it confirms its desire that the negotiations on the conditions set by the minister are open and transparent; and that in the process an appropriate committee/ panel of the council is given the opportunity to scrutinise any agreement prior to it going to ministers.”
Councillor Dodds said yesterday (Tuesday): “This application should never have been forced on the area by the Scottish Government but if we are to be subjected to it then the conditions attached must be rigorously applied and the developer required to address them exactly.
“It is quite right that this is carried out completely openly in stark contrast to how the decision was made by Scottish Ministers.”
Stirling Council’s planning and regulation panel had voted in 2015 by five votes to three to turn down Park of Keir Partners’ proposals but the developers went on to appeal the decision leading to the public inquiry and ultimately the Minister’s decision to overrule the recommendation for refusal of independent reporter Timothy Brian.