North Lanarkshire Council rejects huge 1000-home development
In 2018, Orchard Brae originally submitted an application to North Lanarkshire Council for planning permission in principle for a very large, complex development including:
Some 980 new homes
Employment facilities
A neighbourhood centre
A pub
other facilities for leisure, healthcare and education
An energy centre
Parkland, landscaping and other infrastructure
The site in question, measuring 244 hectares of predominantly agricultural land, borders three residential areas – Airdrie, the Carnbroe area of Coatbridge, and the village of Calderbank.
Heritage features at the location include the canal, the remains of Woodhall House, and the Category B-listed High Palacecraig.
Due to the scale of the application, the case was discussed in a full planning hearing at the council chambers in Motherwell, with representatives for the application and objectors invited to speak, before a full council meeting saw elected members vote.
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With the application being for planning permission in principle there were no detailed plans to consider, as these would be considered at a later date if the proposals cleared this stage. However, development was forecast to take up to 20 years.
Although the country park included in the proposals was supported by some objectors, its size meant the cost of maintenance would be greater than normally covered in factoring arrangements while the council was not of the opinion it should take on this responsibility.
The applicants highlighted several benefits of the development including the creation of around 1800 jobs, new affordable housing, the country park and other environmental improvements and new infrastructure such as the spine road and community facilities including a football academy.
The status of the site presented multiple challenges to the developers, as it was designated green belt and allocated to neither housing or industrial development.
A report to councillors from planning officers recommended refusing the application as it was contrary to the national planning framework and North Lanarkshire Council's own development plan, with the report also noting a lack of material considerations to justify the release of the land.
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Orchard Brae managing director Scott Gillespie told the hearing that it had been 'a long and arduous road' to progress the application, and pointed out that no statutory bodies had objected, nor had any council departments.
He said that the reason the application was not part of the development plan was that it had commenced in 2013 for a 10-week window, and the site had been locked out of the process for twelve years.
He said there were thousands of families in North Lanarkshire on waiting lists for housing, and that in the last ten years Ravenscraig had provided only one thousand of its planned four thousand new homes which will take 33 years to deliver.
He said that Orchard Brae was the only site where the existing Eurocentral industrial estate can expand, and listed several benefits that the development would deliver in addition to around 2000 jobs, 245 affordable homes for the social housing sector and £8 million annually for North Lanarkshire Council in the form of council tax and non-domestic rates.
On site, he promised the football academy, two new schools, the park with £600,000 funding over five years, apprenticeships and traineeships and a new link road.
Other supporters of the application highlighted the potential benefits of the development in terms of housing, the local economy and sporting organisations with the provision of new football pitches.
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Objectors addressing the hearing highlighted the possible environmental impact of the development, stating that there was no justification for the destruction of green belt, and that other sites were already allocated within the local plan which were more suitable including unallocated land on the other side of the motorway, while the lack of a named developer meant there was doubt the promised benefits would actually be delivered, while the loss of a well-used and frequently visited part of the countryside would have 'devastating' consequences especially for local children.
Other objectors said there had not been meaningful engagement with those already living on the site and that similar developments had made lavish promises only to result in nothing but housing being built, and claimed that many of the supposedly new jobs would in fact merely be displaced from elsewhere in North Lanarkshire, as well as the disruption and traffic that would be brought to the area for decades.
During questioning from councillors, the applicants stated that the Orchard Brae site was unique due to the level of infrastructure available there, and that this was attracting interest from investors while they were unable to name a comparable alternative location for this development.
On the disagreement of the applicant and council officers about the potential economic outcome of the development, representatives for the applicant said the officers had been dismissive of their findings, while the officers said that although the figures provided were built on solid principles they believed the largest group of jobs, most likely in storage and distribution, would be with large online retailers which already had local depots and so questioned claims they would in fact be new positions, while jobs generated from housebuilding could also be created at other locations.
A brief meeting of the full council immediately followed the hearing, where Councillor Paul Di Mascio moved to refuse the application while Councillor Michael McPake moved to grant.
The meeting then moved straight to a vote, with 42 councillors voting to refuse and 18 to grant.
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