This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Bishopton redevelopment to be scrutinised
01/12/2006
Ministers today invoked rarely-used powers for a public examination of proposals for the redevelopment of the former Royal Ordnance Factory site at Bishopton - the largest brownfield site in Scotland.
In April this year an alteration to the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Structure Plan was submitted to Ministers identifying Bishopton as a 'Community Growth Area' suitable for accommodating significant urban expansion.
The proposal has attracted around 2,000 objections from local residents.
The examination will take the form of a structured discussion led by a Scottish Executive Inquiry Reporter.
It is proposed that the discussion will address two questions:
- Do either the presence of contamination within the former Royal Ordnance Factory site, or the measures required for its remediation, raise issues of sufficient concern to preclude the identification of Bishopton as a Community Growth Area?
- Does the capacity of the road and rail network preclude the identification of Bishopton as a Community Growth Area?
Various interested parties will be invited to make representations and take part. The examination in public is expected to start in spring 2006 and last several days.
Deputy Communities Minister Des McNulty said:
"It is vital that we have as full a picture as possible. The public examination will ensure that the decision which Ministers make on the Glasgow and the Clyde Structure Plan is informed by a proper understanding of the issues raised by the proposal to designate Bishopton as a Community Growth Area."
The former Royal Ordnance Factory at Bishopton, Renfrewshire, occupies 2,330 acres, or 943 hectares.
The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 gives Scottish Ministers a discretionary power to hold an examination in public of any matter affecting their consideration of a structure plan. The purpose of such an examination is to provide Ministers with any additional information or advice which they may require to enable them to reach a decision on the structure plan.
This will be the first examination in public of a Scottish structure plan since the early 1980s.
Following the examination, the Reporter's findings will be submitted for Ministers to reach a decision later next year.