THE village of Loans will lose its identity if proposals to build on the greenbelt between it and Troon go ahead, according to a community councillor.
Douglas Graham, planning officer for Troon Community Council, said the vast majority of those attending a recent meeting were against plans to build housing on the greenbelt area between the South Ayrshire village and the Muirhead area of the town.
Now residents are worried the latest plans will see Loans be subsumed by the town. “The main reason is so the places keep their identity,” said Graham. “If you look at the north-east of Troon they only build the houses up to Struthers Burn – the north-east development – so it wouldn’t come any further, so that Loans could still have its own identity and be left as the village of Loans.
“Now they are beginning to try to encroach on that – they are going to build houses on the Loans side and build houses on the Troon side and make it a smaller corridor, which we’re not in favour of.”
South Ayrshire Council has launched a public consultation, encouraging residents to have their say on the plans to build homes on the 30 acres of farmland.
Since the plans came to light in October a petition has been set up on change.org calling for no more house building on the site. So far the petition has 622 signatures, with a target of reaching 1000 before delivering it to the council.
Graham pointed out that similar plans were scrapped in 1996 due to resistance from local residents, and in 1999 a promise was made by the council not to build on the site.
He added that the recent community council meeting had been dominated by the proposals to build on the 30 acres of farmland, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for migratory birds.
“Now the planners are coming back and they’re saying they need land to build on and a lot of folk are not happy about it.
“It was very strongly said [at our recent meeting] that no way do we want houses built on that land.
“We couldn’t even discuss our own business because discussion on the greenbelt between Loans and Troon went on for so long,” he added.
SNP councillor for South Ayrshire Craig Mackay echoed those concerns, as more residents in the area could put undue pressure on local infrastructure.
He said residents feel that the impact of ongoing projects, including the 700-house development at Barassie, should be assessed before any more plans go ahead.
“It’s causing a lot of controversy, which probably isn’t a huge surprise because there’s a huge amount of development just to the north of [the greenbelt between Loans and Muirhead],” he said.
“I think the public mood is let’s let these bed in first and deal with any problems that arise from that and make sure that the town centre can cope, and public transport, schools, that kind of thing.”
Mackay added that the plans were part of the five-yearly review of the planning policy and that proposals to develop on the greenbelt had been placed there by council officers “as a talking point”.
“That’s the intriguing part,” he added. “As part of the local development plan there’s a call for sites in which developers will ask the council if sites can be considered for future development.
“This is one that was put on by the council officers. Which is in some ways a bit strange, but the rationale behind it is tidying up the edges of both Muirhead and Loans.”
Mackay said he fought to keep the proposals on the table at a full council meeting back in August, so that local residents could have their say, despite concerns.
Jill Cronin, head of enterprise, development and leisure at South Ayrshire Council, encouraged residents to get involved before the consultation period deadline at the end of next month.
“A public consultation is currently under way to give communities their say on the next Local Development Plan and land for housing is one of the main issues being considered,” said Cronin.
“We’re looking for feedback on a number of suggested new housing site options, including Loans and Troon.
“We want everybody living in South Ayrshire to have their say which they can do by going to www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/consultations.”
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