On the 19th March 2021 the Scottish Reporter overturned the decision of Stirling council to refuse planning permission for an access track to the proposed site of new quarrying on the west side of Gillies Hill. This decision potentially paves the way for quarrying on Gillies Hill to restart. The area to be quarried does not include any of the CCDT land, this land has been protected by us purchasing it. There is much more information on this decision on the Save Gillies Hill website at https://www.savegillieshill.org.uk/ and that organisation continues to oppose all aspects of the proposed reopening of the quarry. If this is something you would like to support, then I would encourage you to contact them and get involved in the fight. There is a list of 16 conditions placed on the construction of the access track, these include construction of a pedestrian access route along Polmaise Road to enable the public to walk the route without danger of being hit by lorries.
At the time of our purchase of the 64 Ha portion of Gillies Hill, the seller had anticipated this situation and insisted on a clause being inserted into our purchase agreement that we would permit this path to be constructed on our land. We had the simple choice to either purchase the land with this clause or walk away from the negotiations. At the time we took the decision to agree to the clause and purchase the land.
The CCDT board now await developments and anticipate a request for construction of this path to begin. We will do all we can to minimise the impact of this path creation on our wildlife.
Richard Norman, Chair of CCDT
For your information this is the extract from the sale document which includes the clause:
