On Monday 16 August 2021 I met with residents of the Bards Way development, and members of the wider Tillicoultry community, to hear first-hand the concerns that they have about Clackmannanshire Councils management of a Section 75 Agreement that was put in place when planning permission was awarded for the Bards Way development.
As a condition of planning permission being awarded in 1997 for the phased development of housing, Clackmannanshire Council and Brown Homes Ltd, now trading as Midway Services Ltd, signed a legal agreement that should have seen the areas of open space, playpark and football pitch that sit within the development transfer into Council ownership via an adoption process. For reasons still unknown, the land has been allowed to remain in the ownership of the developer, who has now profited by 30K by selling most of the land to Glasgow based property company Sava Estates Ltd.
With the SNP saying in their 2021 election manifesto that they would “renew every play park in Scotland, so that all children have access to quality play in their community, backed by £60 million” it would appear that SNP controlled Clackmannanshire Council do not share the same view. When discussing this point with myself a resident said that “it seems unusual that SNP controlled Clackmannanshire Council have not taken action to enforce the terms of the Section 75 Agreement to protect valuable areas of green open space and a well-used playpark and football pitch”.
I will work jointly with Keith Brown, Constituency MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, and with the other Mid Scotland and Fife Regional MSP’s to help protect the future of the open space, playpark and other recreational facilities.
Residents are rightly concerned that open spaces and play areas are at risk of being lost and have many questions that must be answered. Clackmannanshire Council must show full transparency over how this matter has come about and communicate with the residents to find a solution to what is a very strange set of circumstances that requires answers.
