IT'S a land battle that's turned into a war on all fronts – with substantial collateral damage.

On one side there is tennis icon Judy Murray, fighting to win planning permission for a tennis and golf centre on a historic piece of green belt land. On the other side is business guru Ann Gloag, who has put in a planning application for a huge housing development on an adjacent site.

And stuck in the middle are locals who have been campaigning to stop both developments on one of the country's most lucrative and desirable sites who say they are "under siege" by the two woman and are calling for planning reform to stop powerful developers taking advantage of the community.

Last week Murray's proposal for a controversial multi-million pound tennis and golf centre, hotel and 19 luxury houses on the greenbelt Park of Keir between Dunblane and Bridge of Allan – rejected by Stirlingshire Council last December – was given a second chance during a public enquiry.

As well as objections from locals, she was attacked by representatives of Ann Gloag's company, Arnbathie Developments, who accused the development of failing to meet criteria that will make it of public benefit.

Yet locals, who are also campaigning against Ann Gloag's plans to build 129 "self-contained and discreet" houses on land next to the Park of Keir, have questioned her motives and are unconvinced by claims she is looking out for the community.

Residents-turned-campaigners told the Sunday Herald they were exhausted by fighting plans that went against the democratic process. Ann Shaw, of Residents Against Green Belt Erosion (RAGE), who has been campaigning to stop development on the site for 27 years said it was the third public enquiry that had taken place over Park of Keir.

"Now Judy Murray comes with celebrity status and it feels like planning legislation doesn't count," she said. "Why does she need to develop a tennis centre on this site? This has to be one of the most controversial bits of land in Scotland. We are not against Murray but we want to keep this green field site. This area is under a lots of pressure from all sides. These are people with influence and deep pockets."

With 59 tennis courts and 19 golf clubs within 15-mile radius of Park of Keir, there is no local demand for the facility, she insisted. The community have crowd-funded almost £8k in a matter of weeks to pay for legal fees to fight the plans, which have been backed by other celebrity figures including golf champion Colin Montgomerie, Sir Alex Ferguson. A decision is due in coming months.

Mark Ruskell, Green MSP, said the local community had lost faith in the planning system and felt "stuck in the middle".

He added: "There have been repeated attempts to develop the site. In response local development plans have been enabled by the local council and its put in place a strong green belt. Now we have someone coming along who says 'I don't care about the democratic process', and just decides to push it through."

Despite legislation such as the Community Empowerment and Land Reform Acts in the last year, faith in the planning system locally was "at rock bottom, he claimed. "It's a desirable area and subject to speculative development," he said. "The community feels under siege; it stuck in the middle."

?Angus Hardie, director of the Scottish Community Alliance, said reform was needed to make the planning process more democratic.

"The government says it wants communities to become involved at an early stage in the planning process, and so avoid any need to have the right to appeal against planning decisions," he said. "Park of Keir just illustrates the problem with this.

"The community has been a model of early engagement and the planning decision went in their favour – but the developers just will not give up. If it wasn't for the skills, knowledge and dogged determination of a few local activists, the community voice would be lost."

Judy Murray's case is that this is not just a local issue and that Scotland needs a world-class tennis facility to capitalise on her sons' successes by bringing through a crop of new tennis stars. She has pointed out that in the nine years that Andy has been in the world's Top Five not one council has built an indoor court, a crucial need in Scottish winters.

And while the Lawn Tennis Association has a budget of £60 million a year just £800,000 comes to Scotland.

Alston Birnie, of the Park of Keir Partnership which is has submitted the development plan with Murray, said: "We believe that Park of Keir is an exciting and ambitious project that will provide great healthy sporting opportunities for the surrounding communities, in a way that is sympathetic to the local environment. The eight-day inquiry by the DPEA covered all the arguments for and against the project and the opponents of the scheme have, as they always have, made their case robustly."

A spokeswoman for Ann Gloag said she did not wish to comment.