More than 80 jobs could created as part of multi-million pound plans to redevelop vacant land at Springkerse.
Bluewater (Stirling2) Ltd has submitted an application to Stirling Council planners for five units and two drive thrus along with access and almost 100 parking spaces on land east of 15 Borrowmeadow Road.
The plot of just over 0.95 hectares forms part of the existing industrial estate, but has not been developed.
In documents submitted with the application, agents for the developers said: “The continuing vacancy of this site has adversely affected the amenity of this part of the industrial estate for a number of years, and is detracting from the vitality of the wider Springkerse area including the adjacent sports complex and Commercial Centre.
“The development by Bluewater (Stirling 2) Ltd would also represent a significant multi million pound investment in the Springkerse area which would help to secure a range of new local employment opportunities.
“Although the full range of occupiers and operators is not known at this stage, it is anticipated that the new development could potentially employ around 50 staff (FTE) on both a full and part time basis, with the two drive thru uses providing a 36 Full Time Equivalent of new employment opportunities for local people.”
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The statement reads: “The Springkerse Retail Park is a designated Commercial Centre and provides a range of large retail units primarily selling bulky goods, but also contains three further drive thru units operated by Burger King, Costa Coffee and Tim Hortons.
“The site has been allocated as an employment site and has been awaiting a use for at least 10 years.
It is clearly a long term vacant development site.”
Despite its long standing development allocation, there have only been two planning applications submitted for the site - both were submitted by the current applicants.
The first proposed a mix of class 4 (business and light industrial) and class 5 (general industrial) units and a drive thru unit and was withdrawn last June.
A subsequent application was approved by Stirling Council in September 2022.
This was a detailed planning permission which approved the erection of five class 4 units, five class 5 units and a drive thru unit along with the formation of a new access road and car parking.
However, the developer’s statement added: “Notwithstanding the very recent granting of planning permission, the applicant has amended the proposals for the site to include a second drive thru unit in the south east corner and the reconfiguration of the internal access roads and the row of industrial units.
“The proposals for the site have been amended to meet identified market demand for a second drive thru unit, and also to ensure that a viable development can be delivered. In this respect, the inclusion of the drive thru units are required to enable the delivery of the class 4 and 5 units on the site which will be speculative and at this stage, have no confirmed operator interest.
“In terms of site coverage, the drive thru element on the site will take up 0.44 hectares of the 0.953 hectare site, or 46 per cent. It should, however, be noted that 0.24 ha of the site already benefits from an existing drive thru permission and therefore the net increase in ‘non-employment’ uses on the site would be 0.2 ha. The current application proposals would therefore result in the loss of a further 0.2 ha of allocated employment land.
A decicion will be made on the plans in due course.
