The development on a 55.6-hectare site to the East of Gilston Farm will include residential, employment, commercial and retail uses, with associated infrastructure.

A Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) has been submitted to Falkirk Council, noting the intent of Hansteen to submit a planning application for Planning Permission in Principle, establishing the principle of development on the site.

The indicative masterplan currently comprises:

• Residential land for circa 500 units
• Land for employment-related uses
• Green network / open space - this features a large area for open space / a water park that can act as both flood attenuation for climate change modelling events and as amenity open space.

Hansteen said the development will assist in creating jobs and delivering housing. It will also play a major role in supporting the economic recovery from the current COVID-19 crisis, in which the construction sector could play a major part.

The development will also assist in addressing partial flooding of the site.

The adopted Local Development Plan, which allocates sites for development, had previously allocated the land for employment uses only. However, a new Local Development Plan is due to be adopted this year and a Scottish Government Reporter recommended through its examination that the Gilston site should be changed to become a mixed-use allocation, delivering much-needed housing in order to address a shortfall in Falkirk Council’ five-year housing supply.

This effectively allocated the site for:

• Business (Class 4/5/6, leisure and tourism).
• Housing (indicative capacity 500) to include 25% affordable housing.
• Neighbourhood Centre (convenience retail/local services).
• Greenspace (including sports pitch provision).

Extensive community engagement will be undertaken on the site, delivering a development which takes into account flooding and other constraints. It will also look to see what the public would like to potentially see on the site.

This engagement will be based on new Scottish Government guidance that has temporarily suspended public consultation events and replaced these with live and interactive web-based consultation for major planning applications. This will take place on June 24 from 1pm to 8pm.

Commenting on bringing forward the proposals, Ken Haldane, a consultant for Hansteen, said: “We are delighted to be bringing forward our exciting proposals for the site, which will serve to deliver much-needed housing in the area. In addition to housing and employment uses, we are keen to get the views of the public and hear what they would like to see in terms of potential community uses.”