On Tuesday I attended Renfrewshire Council Planning Board to hear the decision about the proposed housing development off Barochan Road to the North of Houston village. There were 563 objections to this proposal from the local community, but we were not hopeful of success. It was therefore a pleasant surprise to be able to watch as the proposal was rejected on an 11:3 vote; a win for local democracy. We were particularly pleased to see that the Council Officer moving the motion to oppose the application (Andy Doig) opened with a focus on the climate and biodiversity impacts which helped to sway the vote.

Our mission at Creating a Sustainable Gryffe is to “work within our communities to empower change towards sustainability”:

As the first tier in local democracy we have engaged with local Community Councils: Bridge of Weir, on an ad hoc basis, and Houston, as a full member. We have found Community Councils to be very open and responsive to sustainability issues with concerns about inappropriate over-development and its impact on climate and biodiversity.

On behalf of local residents, Houston Community Council have been spearheading the community response to the proposed new development. The Community Council are lucky enough to have a Senior Planning Officer as a member who collated a really detailed and comprehensive report. I contributed to the sustainability elements of the report, highlighting the adverse ecological, biodiversity and climate impacts of the proposed development. It was very rewarding to hear these issues were acknowledged in the decision making.

This was a great win for the community and the Community Council. It was also a good example of how we can impact change by working together.

Whilst we fully expect this decision to go to appeal, both Bridge of Weir and Houston Community Councils are developing our Local Place Plans on behalf of our communities. These will bring together our ideas for local development to meet our housing, infrastructure and travel needs. The Scottish Reporter is required to take note of these plans when making decisions about new developments. Please contribute if you haven’t already done so.