Falkirk Council will use compulsory purchase to allow Denny DEAR to go ahead
Falkirk Council says it will use a compulsory purchase
order (CPO) if necessary to get land to build a road that will ease congestion
at Denny Cross in particular.
Director
of Development Rhona Geisler told councillors that negotiations were still
underway with landowners Callendar Estates to buy land for the long-anticipated
Denny Eastern Access Road (DEAR).
The aim
is to create a bypass for traffic travelling between Glasgow Road and Broad
Street in Denny, aiming to ease the congestion on local roads and Denny Cross
in particular.
But while progress had been made, Ms Geisler said that things were not moving as quickly as the council would like and she asked councillors to agree that, if necessary, they could use a CPO.
“This is
really just a caution but I require the authority in case we can’t move on,”
she told councillors.
Denny
councillor Paul Garner, who is also the SNP’s environment portfolio holder
said: “I had hoped we and Callendar Estates, the landowners, would have come to
a mutual agreement to progress with this much-needed infrastructure but we are
now left, in my opinion, with no option but to go down the route of CPO to
deliver our manifesto commitment.”
In order
to get a CPO, a council has to prove the public benefits of acquiring the land
outweigh private interests.
He said
that continued growth of house building in the Denny area was making the DEAR
solution “is the only viable way and is needed more than ever and as soon as
possible”.
He said
there would be economic benefits as an improved road network would allow more
growth and there would also be benefits to air quality for local people.
He added
that the proposed new road would also benefit Denny shops as the town would
become an easier, more attractive place to visit.
“The
delays we experience every single day at Denny Cross are beyond a joke and any
slight change, such as sequencing or driver error, at this over-capacity
junction, causes extremely lengthy tailbacks,” he said.
“In my
opinion there is a clear case that in the public interest we need to use CPO
powers without further delay.”
Conservative
councillor Nigel Harris said he fully supported Councillor Garner’s words and
said: “It is disappointing how long the DEAR has been on the stocks that
Callendar Estates haven’t seen fit to negotiate on an issue that is to the
benefit of many thousands of residents.”
Councillor
Robert Bissett asked for confirmation that developers will still be asked for
contributions.
Mrs Geisler replied that the money for DEAR was included in the council’s capital programme so they would pay for it but they would continue to seek contributions from developers, through planning guidance, although these may be received after the road is completed.
Source:
The Falkirk Herald
16 December 2019