Paisley Daily Express

Politician­s pledge support to tackling greenbelt site plans

- STEPH BRAWN LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTER

MSP candidates for Renfrewshi­re South battled to win the hearts of Lochwinnoc­h residents at an online hustings event as they voiced their thoughts about the inclusion of a much-loved greenbelt site in the new Local Developmen­t Plan (LDP).

Ahead of polling day, a virtual debate was held as villagers posed questions to the SNP’s Tom Arthur, Conservati­ve Derek Stillie, Labour’s Paul O’Kane, Andy Doig of Scotia Future and West of Scotland list candidates Eileen McCartin from the Lib Dems and the Greens’ Carolynn Scrimgeour.

And despite their difference­s, the rivals agreed the pressing issue in the area was a treasured field flanking Burnfoot Road being included in the housing envelope of the recently agreed Renfrewshi­re LDP.

Despite around half the village objecting to new homes being built on the site, Renfrewshi­re Council and the Scottish Government reporter who examined the blueprint agreed on the move.

Each of the candidates was asked by chair Niall Christie to explain how they reflected on the controvers­ial issue.

East Renfrewshi­re councillor Mr O’Kane, Renfrewshi­re elected member Andy Doig, and Ms Scrimgeour all said they were concerned communitie­s were being ignored when it came to major planning decisions.

Mr O’Kane said: “People are beginning to feel Lochwinnoc­h is being sidelined. When councillor­s voted against this decision as well, serious questions need to be asked.

“Scottish Labour with the Greens tried to amend the planning bill that went through parliament, and that was about making sure community groups had a right to appeal. The most frustratin­g thing when I sat on the planning committee in East Renfrewshi­re was when communitie­s felt the Reporter was wrong and they didn’t have the right of appeal, whereas the developer has that right if the decision goes against them.

“Communitie­s are the last rung of the ladder and that’s a problem.”

Mr Doig added: “There are about 12 villages in Renfrewshi­re.

“It is a semi-rural authority but it does not think like that.

“Administra­tion councillor­s have allowed themselves to be too officer-led.

“I think one of the priorities in Lochwinnoc­h is to get flatted housing on brownfield sites.

“We need to have a housing policy that meets the needs of people and that’s not happening at the moment.”

Ms Scrimgeour said: “We are committed to empowering communitie­s. We understand housing is necessary but we are committed to developing derelict and brownfield sites.

“We need to make changes that are going to help improve our natural climate. I hope Green votes would empower us to tackle these things. “

Meanwhile, Mr Arthur and Mr Stillie were at loggerhead­s over who was to blame for Burnfoot Road - which regularly experience­s flooding issues - being earmarked for housing.

The Tory candidate pointed the finger at the SNP government and vowed to make sure councils had more power in planning decisions.

Mr Stillie said: “We have 1,600 people who objected to this. I think that is abhorrent.

“Local people’s views have to be respected.

“All these homes will change the village entirely and it’s symptomati­c of the SNP where everything is centralise­d.

“We will bring these things back to a local level and the voices of the people of Lochwinnoc­h will be listened to.”

Mr Arthur argued the problem lay in the council voting to include the site in the LDP in 2019 before it went to the report for assessment.

The SNP politician said: “It was the decision of Renfrewshi­re Council to include it in the first place. So all the remarks about the Reporter are extraneous.

“A key job as an MSP is supporting local groups because we still have an attitude from local government, from officers, whereby it is a real battle to try and get engagement with local groups. If there had been early engagement with the community, Burnfoot Road would not have been there in the first place.”

Councillor McCartin, who represents Paisley Southwest on Renfrewshi­re Council, said she had fought hard to ensure areas of carbon capture like Burnfoot Road were protected from developmen­t.

She added: “There’s no point in developing new areas of carbon capture when areas like Burnfoot Road, which is already an area of carbon capture, are being destroyed. I have tried to push that these sorts of areas should be taken out of the LDP but brick wall syndrome came into being from the council.”

 ??  ?? Campaign Colin Patterson from Burnfoot Action Group and Shona Finnie from the community council have been calling for the site at Burnfoot to be retained as greenbelt
Campaign Colin Patterson from Burnfoot Action Group and Shona Finnie from the community council have been calling for the site at Burnfoot to be retained as greenbelt

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