The village of Sorn could be left with not one but two incomplete housing developments according to the chair of the community council.
Campbell Homes have applied to build 29 new homes on an field to the south of the conservation village, en route to Catrine.
But Sorn and Auchencloigh Community Council acting chair, Patrick Wiggins, has pointed to a dozen empty homes at the infamous and incomplete Woolmill development and asked whether another development would follow suit.
The 1.98 hectare site was purchased from previous owners Hope Homes in 2021, and would be accessed from the B713 Catrine Road leading out of Sorn.
Mr Wiggins said the community council was not opposed to the development, but wants council planners to address their concerns.
Mr Wiggins said he hoped that the development would ‘support and enhance’ the community and ‘potentially reopen the shop and post office’.
However, the community council’s worry was that, with the Woolmill development remaining incomplete after a decade and a half, with 12 empty properties, another development could exacerbate the issue.
He said: “The Woolmill Development has been a blight on the village as it has (until recently) been left in a state of dereliction, not just adversely affecting the amenity of village, but also directly on the lives of the few residents who have properties there.
“Our concern is that any new housing development may impact on the completion and remediation works that need to be undertaken at Woolmill, leading to yet another prolonged period of inaction and with the houses remaining unsold/unlet and in a state of semi-dereliction.”
With the potential for 41 new homes across the two developments, the community council has questioned whether there is a demand for such an expansion.
“If not are we in danger of having two partially completed developments for many years to come?” he asked.
He added that the traffic was of concern to the group, as well as individual residents.
“The Catrine Road is a key route into and out of the village and as such can have some large goods vehicles travelling on it particularly to and from the quarry.
“The volume of this traffic will increase significantly if approval is given to the continued expansion of Tincornhill Quarry with the siting of a proposed asphalt and cement works.
“We would be concerned that increased traffic flows either from the development itself or from increased quarry traffic that pedestrians, and in particular school children, would present a safety hazard.
“At a time when we all need to re-evaluate our car usage it is essential that new developments take account of their immediate surroundings and ensure design to increase walking is built in.
“We do not want a situation whereby parents feel it is safer to drive their children to school rather than walking or cycling.”
The application was lodged with East Ayrshire planners in June. A handful of local people have objected so far.
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