Details on 400 home plan go to council
Proposal includes nature trail and play area
Housing developers have set out detailed proposals for their plans to build more than 400 new homes in Cowie.
Taylor Wimpey West Scotland has submitted an Approval of Matters specified in Conditions (MSC) application to Stirling Council for 437 new homes on land to the south of Bannockburn Road at Berryhills.
Planning permission in principle was secured on appeal for the development in 2018 and the MSC application sets out its detailed proposals for housing mix, landscaping and building materials.
Fifty of the homes will be affordable homes for social rent that will be transferred to Stirling Council.
The private new homes include two, three and four bedroom detached homes, while the affordable properties will comprise a mix of 32 one and two bedroom cottage flats, as well as 18 two and three bedroom homes.
As well as new homes, the development includes an ecology parkland and nature trail, community green spaces, and an equipped play area.
The application is subject to a Section 75 legal agreement with Stirling Council to cover planning contributions that will be specifically targeted towards education, transport and waste collection.
The council’s planning panel had narrowly rejected the developer’s original planning application in June 2017 following a debate over a shortfall in developer contributions.
Taylor Wimpey had offered a combined primary and secondary contribution of £650,000 – a shortfall of almost £2million from the £2,584,327 sought by the council.
In a written decision in 2018 on the Taylor Wimpey bid, however, the Scottish Government’s planning appeals reporter said the council had overestimated the impact of the development on the capacity of Cowie Primary School and, while there was justification for the refurbishment to form two extra classrooms as a result of the proposed development, a three classroom extension was not needed.
Colin Blair, technical director for Taylor Wimpey West Scotland, said this week: “This proposed development represents a significant investment in the local area by Taylor Wimpey West Scotland.
“Berryhills is allocated for new housing in Stirling Council’s Local Development Plan, which was adopted in September 2014, and we look forward to positive discussions with the local authority in order to progress this development and bring a number of positive benefits to the local area.
“We are in ongoing discussions with the local authority to agree the details of the nature park, as well as mechanism for delivery of the affordable homes, and we do hope to secure a favourable planning decision that will allow us to secure a site start later this year.
“As well as delivering much needed new homes in Cowie, our development would provide a range of economic benefits for the local area which includes supporting over 160 jobs per year of construction, as well as the attraction of new customers to local businesses.”
Our development would provide a range of economic benefits for the local area