Falkirk Council: Alltruck gets councillors approval for Skinflats expansion

Alltruck, which repairs and services commercial vehicles at its premises near Skinflats, was backed by Falkirk Council’s planning committee after they heard that the firm has been asked to establish a Mercedes truck dealership covering the whole of Scotland.

Peter Hoggan from Alltruck said the offer from Mercedes was “a once-in-a-lifetime” chance for the firm and would be “a great opportunity to future-proof our business”.

He told members that the partnership with Mercedes would bring apprenticeships and training as new generation electric and hydrogen-fuelled vehicles are rolled out.

Mr Hoggan said they had looked at other sites but found nothing suitable as the site is very close the M9 and there is space to expand.

At the moment, 57 staff work on the site between two workshops and an office and the extension will bring another 30 staff on-board by June.

Planning officers recommended refusal as the development does not accord with the local development plan – but councillors agreed that the economic impact outweighed other considerations.

Local councillor Gary Bouse said he was prepared to back the extension as it was “bringing really high class business development into Carse, Kinnaird and Tryst”.

Environment watchdog SEPA issued an objection to the development because of flood risk.

Mr Hoggan told the committee that SEPA is objecting on the basis of a long-term risk of flooding and pointed out that the buildings being proposed are temporary structures that will only last five years

Basically, he said, they were “glorified marquees” that simply provide shelter from the elements for the staff and the vehicles.

He assured councillors that they are designed to be flood resilient and explained that there is limited time to get everything in place as Mercedes are keen to start in June.

While he hopes the partnership will last longer, the tight timescale meant they had decided to go with temporary buildings for the time being.

SEPA’s objection means that the final decision lies with the Scottish Ministers who have 28 days to decide whether to call it in or whether to hand it back to the local authority.