Falkirk Council: Another bid for greenbelt housing near Maddiston

The pre-determination hearing, which will be livestreamed, will give councillors a chance to hear the facts about a proposal to develop land at Parkhall Farm.

The application is for residential homes but as it is only seeking permission ‘in principle’ there is no detail of what would be built.

Currently open grassland, the site lies to the east of Maddiston on land immediately north of Cleuch Place, Gannel Drive and King Seat Place. It is bounded by Nicolton Road to the north and by agricultural land to the east.

The site was the subject of a previous planning application that was turned down by Falkirk Council in 2018, then again in 2019 by the council’s planning review committee.

The hearing will give councillors an opportunity to hear from the applicant, Manor Forrest Ltd, and also from anyone opposing the plans. It will also allow them to hear more from various council officers on issues such as roads and flooding.

At the meeting, councillors can request more information where necessary for a future meeting of the planning committee when any decision will be taken.

A report to the committee shows that 61 objections have been received from the public plus two neutral representations. Issued raised by those objecting include: school capacity; pressure on local amenities and community facilities; loss of recreation space; loss of greenspace; impact on trees; impact on ecology and wildlife; lack of need for additional housing; increase in congestion and road safety impact.

Pre-determination hearings are held when a site is significantly contrary to the council’s Local Development Plan. In this case, the site was not recommended for inclusion in LDP2 by the Scottish Government Reporter.

Among the reporter’s conclusions, they found that “an additional substantial allocation in this location could lead to the scale of new development overwhelming the area and exacerbating community concerns regarding the scale and pace of growth”.

The meeting, on Tuesday, January 17, at 6pm will be livestreamed via Falkirk Council’s website.