PLANS have been unveiled for a £90 million housing and shopping complex which developers say will create around 500 permanent jobs and revitalise a Scottish town.
The development, which will be linked to the M9 motorway, will also have a hotel and conference centre, a “neighbourhood centre” and a dance studio. Land will also be used to create a park and a network of green spaces for community use.
The formal unveiling of the plans yesterday comes after months of talks between Wallace Land and the local community. They will now go out for a full consultation before the council decides whether they will be approved.
Among other benefits envisaged for Linlithgow are a £200,000 Town Centre Fund that will be made available when work gets under way, while the developers estimate an additional £5.7m in retail expenditure for local shops will be created by 2019.
Announcing the plans yesterday, Jason Wallace, owner of Wallace Land, said: “We are delighted to be in a position to be lodging a planning application for this exciting £90m development.
“We have undertaken considerable community engagement on this project and have already made significant adjustments to our proposals based on the outcomes from this.
“The development is a win-win for Linlithgow and we would like to thank the community for their considerable input to this process and look forward to continuing the dialogue with them.”
The plans include the construction of slip roads on to the M9, which will be funded by the developer and have the potential to greatly reduce congestion through Linlithgow’s historic town centre. A traffic impact assessment undertaken during the planning stage estimated the new roads could lower the number of vehicles clogging the main street by 25%.
However, these new routes will also need planning per-mission from nearby Falkirk Council.
Mr Wallace said: “We are delivering a comprehensive project that will benefit Linlithgow considerably and provide a much-needed boost to the town.”
Around 150 of the 600 homes in the development have been earmarked for affordable housing, while the rest will go on the open market.
So far, it is not known who will run the proposed supermarket, but it is hoped the outlet will help keep people in Linlithgow and stop money heading out of the area.
According to a study carried out by the developers, around £58m is currently being spent by people living in Linlithgow who are travelling to nearby towns with better shopping facilities. If planning permission is granted, work would begin late next year or early in 2014.
The developers also believe the complex would attract extra investment to the area.
The decision to put the plans before the council has been broadly welcomed, although some have reservations about the scale of the work.
Bruce McCallum, chairman of Linlithgow Community Council, said: “As a community council, we have to stay impartial, but I’d say the town is split on the development.
“On one hand it’ll create much-needed homes, but others are concerned about the loss of green belt land. We will be having an open meeting now the plans are before the council to let people discuss their views.”
Source: heraldscotland