Out-Law News 1 min. read
03 May 2012, 2:59 pm
The Council refused permission for the first phase of the development because Hazledene's proposal was not in accordance with the area's Local Plan.
Plans for the £85 million development were revealed in December 2009 to build a community at Torbothie, between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The £20m first phase of the development was planned to include 120 new homes that would have been built with long-term plans for a pier, cafes and shops. Scottish Ministers are not being asked to overturn the Council's decision to refuse permission.
The proposed development includes up to 1,000 new homes on a 111 acre site that is mostly brown-field land that surrounds a man made lake.
The developer hopes that it could win the appeal because the development site is brownfield land and because of the much needed new jobs and homes the development would bring to North Lanarkshire.
The area plan referred to by the Council does not address the specific needs of Shotts and Torbothie and this type of development is necessary to kick-start local investment, the developer said.
"Although my initial reaction as I left that planning hearing (in December) was to cut my losses and walk away I decided that I wasn't prepared to ditch what is an excellent development and something that would be welcomed by the local community just because of a lack of foresight and a flawed process," said Mark Shaw, Hazledene's chief executive, according to the BBC.
"This is why we have taken this appeal to the Scottish Government which has pledged to do its best to encourage investment and progress and to try to introduce 21st century thinking to some councils hobbled by 20th century attitudes to prevent development at any cost," said Shaw.
