The chairman of Scottish housebuilder Springfield Properties has challenged Stirling Council about planning delays regarding a housing improvement at Durieshill, south of town.

Sandy Adam protested by bringing an eight foot-high snail to the council workplaces on Thursday (29 June), as an instance his opinion that the council is progressing slowly on planning points.

Councillors instructed officers to grant planning consent for the event greater than 5 years in the past.

Adam stated: “There’s a well-documented housing disaster in Scotland, with communities throughout the nation crying out for brand new personal and inexpensive properties. Particularly in Stirling, the necessity for housing was recognized within the native improvement plan 20 years in the past.

“Springfield introduced the answer to Stirling Council in 2016, and councillors instructed their officers to maneuver ahead with this improvement in 2019 when permission was granted. Since then, important effort and time has been put into bringing this improvement to life, and but 5 years later we have now not been capable of proceed.

“Durieshill shall be a incredible addition to Stirling, and we all know it has the assist of the council who voted to grant planning, and of the local people who’ve been calling for brand new properties for a very long time.

“It’s embarrassing for Stirling Council that we’re on this place, unable to maneuver ahead due to the inaction of officers who’ve given no affordable justification for these delays.”

The newest delays relate to the Part 75 settlement. It was on the agenda for dialogue on the council assembly on 29 June. however was subsequently eliminated. The settlement requires Springfield to make a monetary contribution to the council for use for bettering native infrastructure.

Adam added: “The advantages of Durieshill transcend the supply of housing. It’s going to create jobs and apprentice alternatives, and it’ll see the creation of a brand new faculty, enchancment in infrastructure, and it’ll inject cash into the native economic system.

“Springfield has intensive expertise in constructing massive village developments and in no different council space have we witnessed something like this. Our Dykes of Grey improvement of 1,500 properties took simply 62 weeks for consent to be issued; our Bertha Park improvement of three,000 properties took 76 weeks. At Durieshill, we’re at 287 weeks and counting.

“We totally recognise the significance of getting the Part 75 proper, however the council has had years to have a look at this, and when councillors requested for readability on the difficulty, the response of officers is to postpone selections, moderately than utilizing the intensive research and reviews obtainable to reply the questions being raised.”

He concluded: “We have to cease attempting to determine what phrases go on what bits of paper. It’s time now to progress, to get the diggers going and to offer the individuals of Stirling with an excellent and exemplar new village to name their residence.”

A Stirling Council spokesperson stated: “The Durieshill improvement is one in every of largest detailed planning purposes to have been accredited in Scotland. As such it requires considerably extra time to find out than an software for permission in precept for the same sized improvement.

“A improvement of this dimension and scale additionally requires advanced mitigations for schooling and transport infrastructure that entails intensive dialogue with third events to make sure all essential approvals are in place.

“Stirling Council has already demonstrated important dedication to this main challenge, together with the approval of capital funding for a brand new major faculty in March 2023.

“The council and the developer are near finishing the Part 75 settlement course of, and the council stays dedicated to working intently with the developer to make sure the event is successfully deliberate and managed, whereas the suitable democratic scrutiny takes place.

“Detailed work on pre-start circumstances can be underway, which can enable the developer to start out on the earliest alternative as soon as all approvals are in place.”

Earlier this yr Springfield introduced that it had put a maintain on affordable-housing work, because it revealed monetary outcomes revealing a 5 per cent discount in pre-tax revenue. It attributed the drop to build-cost inflation, significantly on fixed-price inexpensive housing contracts.

The corporate additionally stated on the time that it was introducing cost-cutting measures, anticipated to save lots of £3m per yr, together with a discount in land-buying exercise, instigating a recruitment freeze and decreasing headcount.

In June final yr, Springfield prolonged its land financial institution by means of the acquisition of the housebuilding division of Glasgow-based Mactaggart & Mickel Group, in deal value £46.3m