3000 HOMES ON THE WAY
Scheme satisfies planning officials
Stirling councillors will on Tuesday be asked to approve plans for a 3000home ‘supervillage’ between Plean and Bannockburn.
The application by Springfield Properties for the Durieshill site comes before Stirling Council’s planning panel on Tuesday.
Council planners are recommending approval of the plans – but want a whopping 157 conditions attached to any consent.
Just last month councillors cast doubt on the likelihood of the plans materialising any time soon, with hopes that 25 council homes a year would be built imminently at Durieshill described as “ambitious” by Bannockburn councillor Alasdair MacPherson.
Plans to create a `supervillage’ at Durieshill emerged in 2004 when the land was first allocated for homes in the Local Plan.
Since then it has had a lengthy and chequered history. This includes it being backed at a public inquiry by the Scottish Executive in 2006, but building work to this point has failed to materialise.
Springfield became backers in 2016, estimating that work would have started by now.
The residential component of the application includes
3,012 new homes (2116 houses and 896 flats) and 30 units designed for residential care. There will be 25 per cent affordable provision: 2279 market homes and 763 affordable homes.
A 30-bed care home, designed principally for people with dementia and respite care, is located within the heart of the development.
Fifteen shops and other commercial units are proposed including a cafe, concentrated around a pedestrianised civic square, and there would also be a business park with the potential to support 612 jobs – although this would be delivered by other parties dependent on market demand. A community campus would accommodate a double stream primary school and a secondary school. While both would serve Durieshill there is potential for future phases to accommodate pupils from other future developments within the Bannockburn High School catchment area.
Phasing and implementation would be over a 30 year period. Just 50 homes would be built in the first year – including 26 affordable homes – with up to 100 homes each year thereafter.
Almost 900 supplementary documents are attached to the application – from the applicants themselves, consultants, council officials, statutory consultees and contributors – making it arguably one of the most extensive and complex single development proposals seen in the Stirling area in decades.
The site lies to the south of Stirling, around 1.5km from the edge of Bannockburn and 1.5km northwest of Plean.
It is bounded on the north and west by the M9 and A872 and by Cadgers Loan to the south-east.
In their report to Tuesday’s meeting, council planners say: “At present, the site is predominantly actively managed agricultural land comprising open pasture and arable fields with a number of farms within the boundary.
“Also scattered throughout the site are houses, sited individually or as part of residential clusters, which are located predominantly within the northern section and along the Roman Road. A pre-school nursery is also located next to the Roman Road, which is regarded as the central spine of the site.The residential areas are divided into nine character areas, each with a particular identity.”
When the supervillage was first discussed in connection with the Local Development Plan more than 15 years ago, it proved highly controversial with surrounding communities.
However, just six objections have been submitted to Springfield’s planning application citing concerns over the presence of mineshafts, loss of agricultural land, amenity of existing residential properties, traffic, pressure on local health services and other issues.
Planners said:“With appropriate site investigations and remediation, it is reasonably considered that the development would not have an adverse effect on human health as a consequence of contaminated land and ground stability issues associated with past mining activities on the site.
“It would not result in the loss of‘prime’ agricultural land and is not found to be in conflict with the Local Development Plan. The housing allocation makes a significant contribution to Stirling’s five-year effective housing land supply.
“The development would not harm the amenity of any residential property in terms of noise, privacy, sunlight and ambient daylight (overshadowing), over-dominance, impact of landscape change, and odour.
“No objections have been raised [by roads officials] subject to on and off-site measures to mitigate the traffic impacts of the development and imposed as conditions of consent.
“Financial contributions would be secured for the delivery of health care provision within the health care catchment area relating to the site, for which specific solutions have been identified.
“It is acknowledged that the planning authority has no control over the uptake of the proposed shop/ commercial units being largely influenced by external factors outwith the scope of the planning application process.
“However, the delivery of commercial units and the infrastructure necessary to support those units (active travel, public transport and community infrastructure including public ream) would be conditions imposed on any planning permission.”