House plans get the council thumbs down

Site was not included in Local Development Plan

A bid to build up to 65 new homes in Deanston has been rejected by Stirling Council’s planning panel.

Councillors backed council planners recommendation to refuse the application by Gladman Developments Ltd on Tuesday.

The developers had been seeking permission in princple to build on land next to and west of Deanston Community Centre on James Smith Road.

However, the site is not included in the Local Development Plan.

Whilst the proposal had not included detailed features, Gladman had previously drawn up a masterplan suggesting up to 65 homes could be created.

Kilmadock Community Council objected to the application on grounds of road safety, school capacity, drainage and contravention of Development Plan policy.

A total of 42 individual objections and one representation had also been submitted.

While Gladman had acknowledged the development does not conform to the LDP, they brought the plans forward as a “windfall” development – a nonallocated site that may nonetheless contribute to the housing land supply.

The panel, however, refused the application citing grounds including that it would encroach onto a greenfield site, that it had not been demonstrated that the local landscape had capacity to accommodate the scale of the development and it would result in adverse cumulative impacts on the landscape.

Lack of significant economic benefit to the area, and lack of travel connections were also factored in the decision.

It is unclear as yet whether Gladman will choose to appeal the council’s decision.