Campaigners fighting the controversial Park of Keir development have assembled an ‘eleventh hour’ expression of their opposition to the scheme.
Residents Against Greenbelt Erosion (RAGE) have put together a Change.org petition ‘protect Park of Keir, greenbelt between Bridge of Allan from executive housing’ which as of Monday morning had gathered more than 800 signatures.
Park of Keir Partners want to build 19 luxury homes on the land between Dunblane and Bridge of Allan along with a tennis centre, golf centre and Sir Andy Murray Museum led by Judy Murray.
Inga Bullen of campaign group RAGE who consider the planning application “flawed and unjustified” said this week: “Our reasons for opposing the development still stand.
“There is still a great strength of feeling in the community against this development.
“We wanted to show the new planning minister [Tom Arthur] how people here feel about it.”
Earlier this month politicians critical of the plans for the controversial development at Park of Keir vowed to fight on despite the application having reached the peak of the planning process.
It followed Stirling Council’s planning panel unanimously expressing dissatisfaction at the planning process as they noted a S75 legal agreement struck over the development.
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The initial application for the Park of Keir Development was rejected by Stirling councillors in 2015 after more than 1000 objections.
Following an appeal and public local inquiry, Scottish ministers issued a Notice of Intention to approve the development in 2017, pending agreement between the applicant and the council to secure: affordable housing; education contributions; community access to the tennis facilities; and a ‘no more houses’ agreement for the site.
The Section 75 agreement covers a range of requirements the developer is legally obliged to deliver and had been brought before the planning panel earlier this month for scrutiny before it is passed to Scottish Ministers for final consideration.
Council officers had advised that failure to note the report could see it taken entirely out of the council’s hands, potentially putting any perceived bonuses already negotiated at risk.
Panel members were told that their “hands were tied” in terms of any influence they may have and that the parameters had essentially been set out by Scottish Ministers.
Park of Keir Partners have said they are pleased to have signed the agreement, that the process is almost concluded and are looking forward to sharing “exciting proposals for this new community facility”.
RAGE, who plan to send the signatures to the minister, said their petition will close this Saturday (August 22).
