Inquiry Needed on Mossend Railhead
Mark Griffin MSP has quizzed Scottish Government Ministers on a planning development in the Bellshill area following a damning judgement from the Court of Session.
The development, opposed by local residents and rejected by North Lanarkshire Council in 2014, was granted by Ministers after overturning recommendations by the Scottish Government Planning Reporter. Following an appeal by North Lanarkshire Council, the Court of Session has slammed Ministers' decision.
Mark said:
"If approved, this development will have a detrimental impact on people living in the Hattonrigg area of Bellshill, increase air and noise pollution, decimate the last area of greenbelt land locally and devastate local wildlife.
"North Lanarkshire Council, who supported local residents and rejected the planning application, have been vindicated in taking this matter to the Court of Session.
"The judgement of the Court of Session is damning for Scottish Government Ministers and states they did not provide "Proper, Adequate or Intelligible" reasons for their decision and effectively "ignored" local residents' concerns.
"I have lodged a number of Parliamentary Questions on this matter and have asked Nicola Sturgeon to launch an inquiry into the reasons Ministers reached their flawed decision on such weak grounds."