THE WAITING GAME

The fate of a major housing development in Morningside will be decided at a full planning hearing.

A decision had been due on the fate of the 92 home application at council headquarters last week.

NLC planners had given the go ahead to the proposals but now locals will be able to have their say at the forthcoming hearing.

Morningside councillor Clare Quigley said: “The meeting was a bit of an anticlimax but I am pleased there will be a full planning hearing because it means the local residents will be able to have their say.

“It’s far more democratic and it means the residents themselves can put their case forward.”

Applicant Robert Hill had appealed to the Scottish Government after North Lanarkshire Council threw out original plans back in 2015.

The appeal was rejected after concerns regarding the sewage system and that the new homes would have a colossal impact on the nearby Morningside Primary as well as being built on greenbelt land.

Over 60 res i d e nt s have already submitted their objections to the proposals.

Last month it was revealed that the land, formerly greenbelt, has now been re- zoned for housing in the council’s new Local Development Plan.

Independent Morningside councillor Tommy Cochrane has revealed he remains unsure about the proposals.

He said: “I want to listen to what is being said from both sides.

“I have made enquiries about the sewage problems but the big thing for me is the impact on the school.

“Morningside badly needs a new school and that will be a big sway for me.

“I wasn’t able to speak at the meeting last week and there are no councillors from our ward on that subcommittee. “That needs to change. “Local members wouldn’t have been able to have their say on an important local issue and that isn’t right.”