Stirling Council’s Planning and Regulation Panel last week approved an application by Ramoyle Developments Ltd to develop land at Crookbridge, adjacent to the A905 Kerse Road, south of the Wickes DIY.

The application included plans for offices, retail units, a drive-thru restaurant, car showroom and car parking.

Currently owned by Stirling Development Agency (SDA), the 12.68-acre site is already allocated for business and retail use in the Stirling Local Development Plan and earmarked as suitable for “bulky goods retail and commercial leisure development”.

However, in documents submitted with the application, agents for the developer Yeoman McAllister Architects argued that while the retailing proposed is not bulky goods retailing, “submitted retail impact and sequential assessments demonstrate that the criteria identified for the consideration of the acceptability of the proposals have all been met”.

In their recommendation that the application is refused, council planners said the applicant refers to a Retail Impact Assessment that is out of date and therefore has not demonstrated that there will not be a harmful impact on the city centre.

They also say there is no robust, up to date Retail Capacity Assessment to show sufficient consideration of alternative city centre sites, or town centre sites to accommodate the proposals, albeit of a reduced scale.

In their report for the hearing, council planners said: “It is acknowledged that Stirling likely has an oversupply of land and premises reserved for bulky goods retailing, as evidenced by undeveloped areas which have been allocated for many years, as well as vacant buildings particularly at Springkerse.

“The Crookbridge site has been available for development of bulky goods for a decade with no interest however this is not reason on its own to justify allowing these proposals.”

Despite this, councillors waved through the application.

Convenor of the Planning and Regulation Panel, Councillor Alasdair MacPherson, said: “This is a site allocated for retail purposes in the development plan. The proposal will enhance the retail offering available to the people of Stirling and deliver economic benefits. The site will provide a significant amount of full time jobs which will hopefully benefit residents from the Stirling area.

Vice Convenor, Councillor Graham Houston, said: “The Crookbridge site has been available for development for more than a decade and these plans will deliver a range of different services.”