The Kilmardinny Westpark development a "crime" against the community?

The following summary of events was written by a member of KWAG

Scotland's planning system is "plan-led" meaning that local planning decisions should be in line with the Local Plan. The EDC Local Plan was formally adopted in 2005 and is still current; it includes many policies relating to the site and one site-specific proposal: Schedule UC 2C Lower Kilmardinny/Westpark. This is what it says:

"This area, which will be released from the green belt in order to strengthen the boundary, will be developed through a masterplan for a mix of uses, including:

a. a rail halt beside the Allander Sports Centre
b. park and ride associated with the halt (or alternatively for bus park and ride)
c. retention and if appropriate, reconfiguration of West of Scotland Football Club grounds.
d. comparison retailing (i.e. retail warehouses), preferably on or adjacent to Homebase/Halley's Garage (to meet the retail floorspace deficit identified Structure Plan)
e. housing, including affordable housing (see policy HMU 2)
f. footpath, cycleway and road access improvements
g. reinstatement of a significant landscaped green wedge etc
h. potential for business use (Class 4 of the Use Classes Order) (see Policy ECON 3).

Development will need to take account of the flood risk in this area. High standards of urban design and landscaping will require to be incorporated.

The masterplan will require the housing and retailing developments within the area to contribute to the creation of the rail halt and the park & ride facility."

What has happened?

In Nov. 04 housing developers (Cala & Stewart Milne) put in a planning application. Three years later and after many changes but virtually NO public consultation, EDC planners recommended approval of the application, even though it didn't meet the local plan policy requirements. When the community realised the Allander would be lost and not replaced for at least a year but probably more, an action group (KWAG) was formed and it rallied to save it. The Councillors listened to the objections, went against the planners' recommendation and refused the application.

The developers appealed to the Scottish Government. A public local inquiry was held in Aug. & Dec. '08 and KWAG supported the Council's decision to refuse permission. However, the recently issued decision by the Scottish Government Reporter reverses the council's decision and will allow for the development to go ahead. Good news for the developers but not so for the community because, instead of meeting the local plan requirements, this is what's proposed:-

a. NO provision for a rail halt.
b. NO provision for an associated park-and-ride (council-owned land will be set aside for a rail halt but there will be no developer funding)
c. West of Scotland Rugby Club (West) will NOT be retained on the site
d. NO new retail space
e. 550 houses - almost double the 300 allocated in the local plan (& only 10% of the housing land will be used to meet the shortage of affordable housing need, not the 40% targeted in the local plan)
f. A huge increase in traffic. The proposed transport mitigation measures will cost at least £3m of which the developers will only have to pay £650 000, so guess who pays the rest?
g. Possibly some office space but it's unclear how much and who will provide it
h. NO Business Use Class 4 space (light industry)
i. Loss of the Allander.

While the developer contribution of £10m towards rebuilding the Allander on adjacent land may sound like a lot, it will cost considerably more to provide an equivalent facility. The extra money will have to come from the council and. if can't find this in the next 3 (very lean) years, the money goes back to the developers, with interest. The alternative is that a lesser facility is built.

To accommodate the extra 250 houses West would be moved out to greenbelt land along the Auchenhowie Road.

Part of the Kilmardinny site is functional floodplain and the developers want to raise the level of this land, up to 2m in areas. Early consultant reports highlighted major problems with developing parts of the site, which has a history of flooding from rivers and a naturally high water table. This is despite government policy stating that functional floodplains should not be built on unless to meet exceptional infrastructure needs.