Milngavie and Bearsden homes deal fight goes on
OPPONENTS of the massive Kilmardinny redevelopment claim there is still hope and that the controversial plans can be defeated.
Politicians, councillors and residents who are bitterly opposed to the proposals say the fight against them will go on.
In a shock move recently, a Scottish Government reporter upheld an appeal calling for 550 houses to be built between Milngavie and
Bearsden and for the demolition of the Allander Leisure centre.
However, opponents say that the developers CALA still have to acquire the land they need.
And the action group formed to oppose the appeal point out that East Dunbartonshire Council is NOT duty bound to sell the sports centre or the 12 acres or so of surrounding land it owns, highlighting that the reporter herself acknowledged:
"The terms of the land transfers between the council as landowner and the appellants that would be required to implement the scheme are matters for these parties to address separately from the appeal."
Because of this, MSPs Des McNulty and Gil Paterson insist the position is far from a done deal.
Mr McNulty said: "Even after the reporter's recommendations, there is no reason why the council cannot require CALA to scale back their proposal.
"It is a landowner as well as the planning authority, holding all the cards and can insist that the developers stick to the 320 house quota of the local plan and go for improvement rather than demolition of the present sports centre.
"It was the greed of developers in nearly doubling the number of houses they wanted to build that led to the present Kilmardinny application being turned down.
"A more modest proposal, in line with the local plan, would probably have been accepted,"
Mr Paterson said he had heard from "a reliable source" that council officials believe the matter is a fait accompli and that the council should now progress the proposals and said: "If officers are thinking along these lines, councillors must put them right — this is far from a done deal.
"We are in a democracy and the councillors have it in their power to ensure that the wishes of the residents and not the developers come first.
"I'm sure councillors will be right behind the people who voted for them — and I'll be right behind the councillors. The ball very much remains in the council's court."
The council is now also being asked to call for the developers to adhere to the masterplan and restore its provision for playing fields at Kilmardinny for West rugby club, rather than pursue their application for 25 acres of greenbelt land at Auchenhowie.
Keith Small, of the Kilmardinny Westpark Action Group, said: "The reporter's findings on the present application appeared to pre-judge the success of the Auchenhowie application which is still to be determined.
"We believe the council can challenge the reporter's Notice of Intention on the grounds she has misdirected herself in that she does not ensure that the requirements of the local plan will be delivered and we will be writing to the chief executive and councillors to that effect."
A council spokesperson said: "We must consider carefully how, as a responsible planning authority, we can take cognisance of the government's position and balance that with how we can best serve the council and its people in these challenging financial times.
"Currently we are reviewing the terms of the legal agreement and are considering our position in the light of the reporter's findings.
"The council remains committed to providing a high standard of leisure services for the local community in this area and for future generations, with as little disruption to service provision as possible."
See this week's Herald to find out what readers think of the decision to give the go-ahead for the Kilmardinny proposals. Click here to send your views to the Herald.
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Weather for Milngavie
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
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Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
