Following a specially convened closed-doors meeting, the ruling administration at East Dunbartonshire Council decided to enter into an agreement with developers for 550 houses to be built on the boundary between Milngavie and Bearsden, three years after the authority threw out the original application.
That initial decision was appealed, and the day before a deadline set by the Scottish Government Reporter, who adjudicates on contentious planning moves, the council voted 10-9 in favour of entering into a contract with Cala Homes/Stewart Milne, signalling the green light for the scheme in the Kilmardinny-Westpark area.
The deal will see the developers pay £10 million towards a new sports facility to replace Allander Leisure Centre, which will be demolished to accommodate the scheme, and make a £654,000 contribution toward A81 road improvements through the Kilmardinny area that will be needed due to increased traffic generated by the development. They will also construct 55 affordable houses.
As part of the overall plan there is now an expectation that the council will swap sites with Cala, which would get the Allander in exchange for a former bus garage site.
However, the council’s SNP group and local LibDem MP Jo Swinson have raised concerns that the £10m payment towards a new sports centre will not cover the cost, with the Nationalists claiming the bill for a new Allander could approach £20m, and the remainder falling to the local authority.
Campaigners, more than 5,000 of whom have signed a petition against the scheme, claim it will mean a number of serious financial risks for the council, and that a new sports centre will only be built once the houses are sold.
The council leader, Labour’s Rhondda Geekie, said the decision to accept was based on getting the best “community gain” deal possible rather than the council having a decision forced on it by the Reporter, or Cala securing permission for several smaller schemes without any local authority influence.
She also said the risks flagged up by opponents would be addressed once the exchanges of land between the council and the developer took place.
Ms Geekie said: “Saying there are risks to the council’s finances are untrue. There’ll be no deal done unless we’re happy with it. The Reporter has made up her mind on purely planning grounds and we wanted the best possible gain available.”
Jo Swinson said: “Local people will be really disappointed at the decision and expected the council to stand up for them and its original decision rather than rolling over and accepting what the developer wants. Cala wins here and the community loses.”
Ian Mackay, SNP group leader and councillor for Bearsden North, said: “We still do not know what a replacement will look like, what it will cost or how it will be funded, but we do know what the developers’ contribution to that replacement will be.
“My question is, where will the remainder come from? Has anybody told the administration about the recession?”
