The Next Local Plan
Inverclyde Council has set out the basic structure of how it will approach this important task on their website at: www.inverclyde.gov.uk.
From the Chairman of the Kilmacolm Civic Trust:
KILMACOLM IN THE FUTURE (A CONSULTATION)
Dear members of the Civic Trust
I am writing to you to bring you up to date on the new local Plan being prepared by Inverclyde Council for the whole of their area of responsibility. I am also asking that over the next two months you provide us with your views on how you would like Kilmacolm, Quarriers Village and the local rural area to look and develop in the period 2015 – 2020. This is so that we can present to the Inverclyde Council Planning Board a strategy that truly reflects what you the Kilmacolm Civic Trust members want, or do not want.
The Scottish Government issued instructions last year to all local authorities in Scotland on how and where they see regeneration and future commercial development taking place, and their government policy on future housing needs. This has been cascaded downwards and we will be affected by strategy now being developed by Inverclyde Council for further economic regeneration of Inverclyde, and to meet future housing needs based on anticipated trends in population movement over the next 10 year period.
The procedures for strategic planning in Scotland have changed considerably since the current (still extant) Inverclyde Development Plan was first created, then published, then amended after a very lengthy Reporter’s Inquiry, and ultimately re-published and adopted in 2004. Many of you will remember that all the local community councils and population groups in Inverclyde were presented with what appeared to be a fait-accompli, with property developers having already had their desired requirements apparently written into the plan – leading to a public perception that they were set in concrete and would be granted. Consequently, the local community councils, and the Civic Trust, ended up being forced into a re-active battle requiring much research. This time round, with the new procedures, we can be pro-active and pre-emptive. I have already discussed with Inverclyde Head of Planning how we hope to do this and he is very happy with the proposal.
We need to formulate the strategy that we the Civic Trust Executive Committee should adopt on your behalf between now and 2014, because the current 10-year adopted Inverclyde Local Plan expires that year and the Council’s Planning and Housing Service has embarked on the preparation of the new Local Development Plan that will replace it. This process will take some 2 to 3 years and will go through various stages. The first stage will be the preparation of what Inverclyde Council call The Main Issues Report. The Council Planning and Housing Service will start work on it this Spring and issue it in Summer 2011.
Inverclyde Council will be tied to the Strategic Plan for Glasgow and the Clyde Valley. The Council’s Main Issues Report will highlight Key Issues affecting Inverclyde. Although input will have been injected by ‘Homes for Scotland’ and Commercial/Industrial concerns at national level the Inverclyde Report will promulgate needs identified by the Council (not the Property Developers), after analysis, taking into account the concerns of the local population. If particular needs are identified, planning will be site specific and priority will be placed on development of brown-field sites.
There is a possibility, not a certainty, that we may come under pressure from Inverclyde Council to accept some housing development in Kilmacolm and Quarriers Village to provide:
• Accommodation to be operated by Housing Associations.
• Affordable housing for first-time buyers and newly married families with expanding families.
• Market-rate housing for commuters into Glasgow, Paisley and Inchinnan because Kilmacolm falls partially within the wider West Renfrewshire housing area.
If there is such pressure, we need to be clear on how we will respond. We need to have an agreed plan. Bearing in mind that almost all our local brown-field sites are now used up, if we are ‘required/expected’ by Inverclyde Council to accept some development, please tell us
• Whether you will accept such proposals in principal.
• Where you would willingly/unwillingly accept the three categories listed above.
• What parts of the current footprint of Kilmacolm and Quarriers Village you would fight to preserve from development, and the reasons why.
I ask you to bear in mind that when the Reporter concluded his Inquiry in April and May 2004 and issued his findings he recommended to Inverclyde Council: (1) A site exists for development on council-owned land in the area of Leperstone Avenue. (2) If no suitable site exists within the settlement boundary, and although within the designated Green Belt, serious consideration should be given to the possibility of the north eastern part of the area behind the Police Station being allocated for affordable housing. (3) If no suitable site exists within the settlement boundary, serious consideration should be given to Old Hall but only if a green field site is required for affordable housing and the north eastern part of the area behind the Police Station is unsuitable.
The Civic Trust Executive Committee is anxious that it represents the views of its members and we would greatly value your opinions.
Please respond in writing to:
The Secretary, Kilmacolm Civic Trust
Kintail,
Knockbuckle Road,
Kilmacolm. PA13 4JU
Yours Sincerely
(Original signed) Nicol Cameron (Chairman)