THINGS are seldom straightforward in Scotland. Even when it comes to such apparently uncontroversial matters as two of the titans of Scottish sport endeavouring to leave a legacy for the next generation.

The joint proposal from Judy Murray and Colin Montgomerie for a tennis and golf academy on land owned by Auchterarder-based property firm the King group at the Park of Keir between Dunblane and Bridge of Allan is a case in point. Submitted to the planning department of Stirling Council last July, it originally envisaged six indoor and six outdoor courts, a six-hole golf course with a practice range, mini golf, a 150-bedroom hotel development and a 3G football pitch for use by the local community football team.

While it would serve as a badly-needed site for Murray and others to base their coaching activities, the courts would also be available on an affordable ‘pay-as-you-play’ basis, with 100 luxury homes to help pay the bills and make the whole thing sustainable going forward. The application won the whole-hearted public backing of the LTA, the PGA and Tennis Scotland, no easy task in its own right.

The plans, though, were rejected. This was mainly in view of complaints from a group calling themselves ‘Rage – Residents Against Greenbelt Erosion’, who mustered 600 letters objecting to building anything, particularly housing, on that site. They claim it threatens the local countryside and would erode the distinct geographical communities of Dunblane and Bridge of Allan.

While they celebrated, the rejection came as something of a surprise to the Park of Keir partners, including Murray and Montgomerie, especially considering Stirling Council had previously been enthusiastic enough about it all to reach out to them about including the development in their submission to host Scotland’s new National Performance Centre for Sport (NPCS). Unfortunately they lost that bid for the major new Scottish sporting facilities project, headed up by the SFA, to the site which is currently under construction at Riccarton, Edinburgh, while some key personnel changes at the council saw enthusiasm for the Park of Keir project seem to wane. Incidentally, for those concerned about future provision for tennis in this country, not only does the NPCS development include no tennis provision whatsoever, but the plans actually saw the bulldozing of a small number of tennis courts to make room for it.

In any case, after a further period of consultation, plans were re-submitted in a revised form last month. In a major concession to the protesters, the number of homes envisaged on the site dropped from 100 to just 18, with any fears of further housing development down the line laid to rest by the fact that any land which isn’t built on will be bequeathed to the Scottish Woodlands Trust. The plan now incorporates a cycle path and a footpath between Dunblane and Bridge of Allan with the added attraction of a Murray tennis museum to attract kids fascinated by the legend of Andy and Jamie’s exploits at Wimbledon and beyond.

Scotland being Scotland, though, such changes still aren’t enough for everyone. Once again an online petition is under way to prevent it getting past the planning department of Stirling Council.

While it would be understandable if the first lady of Scottish and British tennis was approaching the end of her tether over this, instead she patiently outlines why every one of the residents’ concerns has been taken on board and hopes that this time around the plans will get the desired outcome. This is a hugely personal project, one essentially constructed on her own doorstep.

“Everything that people have asked for, we have put in,” Murray told Herald Sport. “I don’t know anything about politics or the building trade but this is such an opportunity for the local area and I just don’t get it. There is not going to be much money made from the housing, in fact we are probably going to have a shortfall now that we will have to find from somewhere.

“All of our sports facilities will be run as a charitable trust so it is not in anyone’s commercial interest to build this thing,” she added. “It is all public use, completely community-orientated. I wouldn’t build a posh club, it is completely against everything I believe in. But it has to be sustainable going forward.”

While that online petition ends with the plaintive cry of ‘Let’s save Scotland’s landscape for future generations’, in truth this debate all boils down to two competing definitions of what is in the interests of future generations of Scots. Me? I am of the opinion that a new Scotland bursting with ambitious new ideas and developments such as this one is what we really should be providing for our children.

While all this rumbles along, it is worth noting that international hotelier Donald Trump’s annexation of Scotland’s golfing infrastructure continues apace. Back in March, Trump lodged major plans for housing and leisure accommodation around his Trump International Golf Links development between Newburgh and Balmedie, the original plans of which also included provision for a golf academy. If it is good enough for an interloper like him, surely two altruistic members of Scotland’s sporting aristocracy should also be allowed in on the action.