Battle for Park of Keir

Let the battle for Park of Keir begin! 
We are now into our second week of the Public Inquiry and its time for our witnesses.
 
First out was Mark Ruskell, MSP and local Green councillor.
 
Mark has supported RAGE for many years.
 He told the Public Inquiry that neither Dunblane nor Bridge of Allan wanted Judy Murray’s tennis centre, six-hole golf course with its extra large holes, adventure playground, hotel, gym, or 19 millionaire homes etc on the historic Greenbelt of Park of Keir.
" It’s a good idea, but in the wrong location.”
 
Earlier the lawyers drilled down into the planning application and unearthed all kinds of “goodies”.
 
Much play was made of the Trojan horse (Judy Murray), used in an attempt to get housing on the Greenbelt and the question was raised whether the Trojan horse had now been “put out to grass.”
 
The Park of Keir partnership, which we were all led to believe consisted of Judy Murray, Colin Montogmerie and the King Group does not exist.
 
In fact there is no such company registered as Park of Keir Partnership. It is a “family affair” between Duncan King , builder and owner of the land and his brother in law, Alston Bernie, in what is a private arrangement.
 
As for the world-class tennis and golf facilities, which the development promised ,what in fact we have witnessed is world-class spin argued one lawyer.
 
The much lauded “community park”, once this genie came out of the bottle, turned out to be  sham.
 The community had no voting rights, the board consisted of three people, of which only one would be from the community, and this person would be vetted by Duncan King, the developer, and could be dismissed on a whim – a regal prerogative ?
 
So much for the altruism of this developer in “donating” land to the community!
 
I got chatting later to a retired town planner who had worked with Duncan King and he said altruism was not a quality he would ever associate with him, quite the reverse: he was a man not to be trusted.
 
Pictured: Mark Ruskell, MSP with Inga Bullen, chair of RAGE and Kathy Pidgeon, secretary.