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Housing plan for village compared to 'lottery win'

Published 10 Dec 2009 10:37 Mobiles Print Comments 9 Comments

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By Rosalyn Campbell

THE CONTROVERSIAL development proposals for Bishopton's former ROF site amount to 'a lottery win' for the village - a local resident has claimed.

Bishopton Community Council members and visitors heard last week from Bob Darracott, director of planning and transport at Renfrewshire Council, who described the benefits of the proposed development.

Plans include the creation of 2,500 new homes on the site after it is remediated and decontaminated.

A local resident who attended the community council meeting said: "When you add up the value of all the benefits that are going to come to the village, it's the equivalent of winning the lottery several times over.

"A windfall like this doesn't often come to a community. There is £30 million being put on offer for the village - that's an awful lot of money.

"They plan to create separate motorway links so that the village is separate from the development in terms of traffic flow.They are going to secure the provision of a new health centre - which is very important as the present health centre is inadequate for the community."

The cash that the developer would be required to spend on Bishopton would include: contributing £714,000 towards improving local bus services; £1.2 million to be spent by Transport Scotland on improvements to the M8; £300,000 to fund community projects and £100,000 to fund improvements to the Newton Road Recreation Ground.

Mr Darracott also told the Community Council the developer is required to build a new primary school to be transferred to the Council at nil cost, secure the provision of a health centre and provide a full-size, floodlit synthetic sports pitch and two new grass pitches within the development.

£100,000 would also have to be given towards an Innovation Fund to develop and encourage environmentally friendly innovations, another £100,000 to fund adaptations to residential units for elderly and disabled persons, as well as improvements carried out to park and ride facilities.

A community council spokesperson said: "We are very impressed with the scale and the scope of the section 75 agreement negotiated by the Director of Planning and Transport and his team.

"It seems to meet all the aspirations and concerns expressed by residents of Bishopton over the many consultations conducted by the community council over the last seven years or so. Not least the very substantial financial provision made to add a third layer of environmental monitoring by independent environmental consultants."

The plans have however met with fierce opposition from Bishopton Action Group, whose concerns include the impact of the proposed remediation methods on the environment. They have lodged a formal objection and continue to campaign against the development.

This article appeared in The Gazette 09 Dec 09

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