Falkirk Council: Banknock land sale opens door for McDonald's and Starbucks

The narrow strip of land – which contains trees, bushes and a bus stop – sits very close to Junction 7 of the A80/M80, and gives access to land around the Haggs Tavern, which is now derelict.

Members of Falkirk Council’s executive were reminded that today’s decision was just about the sale of the 310 square metres of land and full planning permission would still be needed before any development goes ahead.

Denny and Banknock councillor Paul Garner, who is also the SNP’s economic development spokesperson, told members: “It will be a sad day for many in Banknock when the Haggs Tavern is finally demolished.

“It, along with the Gordon Arms and the Bush, were a large part of the community. Hopefully, the great team behind the community asset transfer of Banknock Community Centre will help fill that void.

He said he was pleased to see the disposal coming forward as the £365,000 would be used in the council’s capital programme, which includes roads, buildings and open space.

CouncillorGarner added: “Deals like these are critical to generating receipts and in this case there is the benefit of potentially enabling a development which, subject to planning, will see some redundant and derelict buildings cleared and the land developed, which will create jobs.”

He said that a post he shared on a local social media page had attracted more than 120 comments, many of which were positive.

While concerns have also been raised – mainly about litter, congestion and parking – these would all be addressed as part of the planning process.

The Labour group did not oppose the sale of the land but they tried, unsuccessfully, to make sure that the £395,000 would be ring-fenced to help local groups who are currently trying to take over several community halls and struggling with energy costs and carbon emissions.

The group leader, Councillor Ann Hannah, said that “some benefit” should be seen from the sale of the land, rather than the money going into “a big pot of unspecified uses”.

When asked by SNP members, Falkirk Council’s Head of Invest Falkirk, Paul Kettrick, said that there is currently a pot of £3 million that has been allocated to help such groups.

Council officers also agreed that ring-fencing funds remove the flexibility to direct towards priorities while funds could be left “in limbo”.

The amendment was not passed.

According to the report, the sale of the land is just the latest stage in years of negotiations with several landowners.

Dundas Heritable Tenancies Ltd approached the council and the other landowners involved several years ago outlining their development proposals and seeking to negotiate the necessary acquisitions.

The report says it has taken the developers “several years to secure the appropriate terms with the various owners to assemble the site to enable the wider development to take place”.

Any sale would be subject to simultaneous conclusion of missives with the operator developer (McDonalds Restaurants Ltd) for the purchase of the adjoining site.