Clydebelt tries to be legal, decent, honest and truthful, and has made every effort to present fair opinions and accurate facts. Please email or write to us about any corrections.
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Save Our Knowes from Tesco supermarket
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Tesco notified on 15th June 2002 that they wanted to build a Class 1 store, petrol station and associated works on Faifley Knowes, between Craigs Avenue and Hardgate (application no DC02/113).
Clydebelt members were involved in helping local people to fight this development - the Save Our Knowes Campaign.
There were several grounds for objections. Some of them were also the Council's official response. These included:
The site is designated in the current Local Plan (to be superseded within about a year) as open space for public recreation, so shouldn't be built on.
The Structure Plan for the wider area wanted Clydebank to release 6000 sq metres for this kind of development, which they already have done in the town centre.
We believe that the Council owns the land (and could profit from its sale or lease), so they can't have the final say in planning consent - even if they agree to it the Scottish Executive must review their approval, and would probably want them to stick to the Plan policies.
Clydebelt objected on grounds of environment and nature conservation, open space, amenity, location, provision of space for retail development, traffic, ownership of land, employment and economics. See the text of Clydebelt's letter of objection (a 8.5kb PDF file).
The total number of objections was about 700.
Tesco appealed to the Scottish Executive in December 2003 on the grounds that West Dunbartonshire Council had not delivered a verdict on their application within an agreed 18 months. This was because they did not submit most of their reports on time. The Council refused the application at the planning meeting in January 2004. A Public Inquiry was set in motion, but at the end of April 2004 Tesco dropped their appeal, and the Inquiry was cancelled.
Organised objections can have effect. The "Save our Knowes" campaigners have thanked all members of Clydebelt who objected. The SOK's intend to keep a group going to try to put pressure on WDC to enhance and manage the Knowes for the residents and the wildlife.
