A former councillor who is now a developer has confirmed he is appealing a North Lanarkshire Council decision to reject his plans for dozens of new homes in Allanton.
Tommy Cochrane, who represented the Fortissat ward for a number of years, had hoped to construct 61 new houses in the village.
However, at a meeting of the council’s planning committee in January, councillors voted 11 to seven against the plans, with one member abstaining.
Speaking this week, Mr Cochrane told Lanarkshire Live: “The appeal has been confirmed by the Scottish Government Reporter and we will be going ahead.
“A date has not been set yet but we are hopeful of one in the near future.”
In total, 30 letters of objections to the plans were received from 18 different parties, including Allanton and Hartwood community council, with six representations in support.
The council planners report stated: “It is considered that the application doesn’t comply with the development plan and that there are no material considerations to justify a departure from policy.
“The site is greenfield, located in the countryside beyond the edge of Allanton. While rural investment area policy does have some flexibility for development, this is not to the extent proposed.
“Furthermore, there is no need for any additional housing land at this time, a point reinforced by the emerging local development plan.”
Following the planning committee’s decision, Mr Cochrane said: “Allanton is dying and one of the reasons I left the council was to try and bring the villages back to life.
“The school is running at 50 per cent capacity and it almost lost its Post Office recently.
“The site is on an ex-sewage works and the fact the council have knocked it back seems absolutely ridiculous.”
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