New plans are driving villagers parking mad
Residents fear development will cause traffic chaos
Fresh plans to redevelop an eyesore site off Kippen Main Street have led to some neighbours renewing concerns over traffic.
Walter Macdiarmid’s application to demolish a redundant workshop and “ruinous” walls and build three new houses on land between Hillview and Douglastone on Kippen Main Street is being recommended for conditional approval by Stirling Council planners.
The latest application, a renewal of planning permission which was not actioned previously, and includes replacing the workshop with two houses, replacing a former house with a new house facing the Main Street, and renovation of an existing house with off-road parking.
Some neighbours, however, say development of the brownfield site could make existing parking and traffic problems on the main street even worse. In a submission to council planners, neighbour Andrew Tweedie expresses “serious concerns”
He adds: “Both sides of the street are regularly fully parked, leaving a single lane in the centre for passing traffic.
“Residents tend where possible to park off street on the wide pavements, so there is in fact double parking on each side.
“This single lane becomes the only access route for the majority of Kippen residents, plus vehicles belonging to the local garage and traffic to and from Fintry via the B822.
“This traffic includes agricultural vehicles such as combine harvesters, horse boxes etc.”
Mr Tweedie says that his car has twice been damaged by passing vehicles, adding: “The new development will reduce the availability of general parking since the access road to the new houses will require to be kept clear at all time.
“During the construction phase the impact on the street will be much worse as construction and tradesmen’s vehicles jockey for position. It seems the construction of three houses will add significantly to an existing, rather difficult traffic situation.”
Stirling Civic Trust have also objected to the new application saying it is the only remaining civic space in the centre of the village and should be left as a parking area in the “already congested” area.
The brownfield site is bounded on its north by Kippen Parish Churchyard, on the east by Berits and Brown cafe, Hillview on the west and Main Street to the south.
Stirling Council planners said: “The workshop is dilapidated and visually degrades the local village centre and Conservation Area and detracts from residential amenity.
“The physical condition of the workshop is beyond salvage for residential use.
“The building has now been redundant since 1984 and there has been no interest at all in purchasing the site/workshop.
“The replacement building for two houses is set back from the road, at the rear of the site, and, like a Mews development, runs at right angles to the Main Street.
“The existing historic access is to be reused to retain village character and the council’s roads development control section supports the application for redevelopment of a site that would have been intensively used for commercial workshop and residential purposes.
“Conditions advised by roads in relation to driveway construction, parking and waste pick-up have been applied to the current application.”
In a design statement submitted to planners, architects for the developers said: “The aim of the proposals is to rejuvenate the existing dilapidated site with house designs which enhance the Kippen Conservation Area as a whole.
“The existing access to the site is to be retained, providing access to the two new houses to the rear of the site as well as off-road parking for all new houses as well as the existing house.”