Residents launch petition in bid to save their village park

Stewart Milne Homes are applying to North Lanarkshire Council for planning permission to build 67 homes on 
the former greenbelt site at Langmuirhead Road.

The plan will come before the council’s planning committee later this week.

But villagers say the site will intrude on the entire village park area and are campaigning for the application to be refused in its present form.

Residents, led by Auchinloch Community Council, protested earlier this month at the site. They are urging all villagers to sign a protest petition.

Chairman Alastair Moodie said: “For many years the residents of Auchinloch have had the amenity of the playing field and play park south of Langmuirhead Road, often the scene of the Auchinloch Gala Day.

“Last summer it was decided to set up the Auchinloch Development Trust so that projects like the village park could be run by local people.”

Mr Moodie said the aim was to improve the ground and develop new facilities for villagers. He added: “We object strongly that the development as proposed is not limited to the boundaries as it appears in the Local Plan.

“The area also qualifies as a site of importance for nature conservation, according to North Lanarkshire’s Greenspace Development team.”

A Stewart Milne Homes spokesperson said: “The planning application has been recommended for approval by council planning officials.

“A small area of land within the current planning application boundary, only five per cent of the total site, is just outwith the Local Plan zoning but is specifically set aside for landscaping and for use as a sustainable drainage facility.

“We have been sensitive in our approach to the design of this particular part of the site.”