Falkirk Council: More details needed on Maddiston homes proposed by Manor Forrest

Three members of the public spoke out against plans by Manor Forrest to build on land at Parkhall Farm, Maddiston, at a special meeting of Falkirk Council’s planning committee held online on Tuesday evening.

The pre-determination hearing gave councillors, who will make the final decision, a chance to hear the facts about the proposal from both the developer and those opposed to it.

But councillors said they will need much more detail from the developer before any decision can be made – including the number of homes that could be built there.

Councillor Gary Bouse pointed out that the planning officer’s report highlighted the fact that lots of information had not yet been submitted by the applicant.

The council’s engineering design unit said the lack of information meant it was not possible to carry out even a basic assessment against current road safety policy and guidance.

Likewise there was no information on the noise from a nearby railway line, no contaminated land assessment and no air quality impact assessment.

A coal mining risk assessment also needs to be carried out and Scottish Water said they had not seen a pre-development enquiry.

The site has already been rejected as unsuitable by Falkirk Council and a Scottish Government reporter.

The three local residents who spoke all had concerns about the impact yet more housing would have, particularly on roads that are already congested at peak school times.

One told councillors: “The school’s already had to build an extension and you cannot get an appointment at the GP surgery because it’s also full.”

Residents are also concerned at the loss of the open space and the impact that would have on wildlife.

Speaking on behalf of the developer, Andrew Bennie told councillors that the Falkirk area has a shortfall in its effective housing land supply and this development would help meet that need.

He added: “While located on the periphery, the site would have the same level of accessibility to local services and facilities enjoyed by much of the existing stock in the wider area.”

Mr Bennie said any demands on roads, schools and other infrastructure could be addressed by development contributions and conditions and he noted that the council’s education services had agreed that a financial contribution would be acceptable.

Mr Bennie and his colleague, Alistair Bell, also told members that the site was key to providing a “missing section” to the long-planned Maddiston local distributor road and was “critical to the delivery of the overall development”.

However, while residents talked of health services being at capacity, Mr Bennie pointed out that the NHS had not responded to the consultation.

Members of the committee said this was a long-running problem with the NHS and they were disappointed at the lack of response.

The planning committee convener Billy Buchanan said that it was important that dialogue now started in earnest between the applicant and the council’s planning officers to get the information before a decision is made.