Shillford project gets green light

A major plan to create a new transport depot with workshops, offices and a museum near Neilston has been given the go ahead.

- DREW SANDELANDS, LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTER

Councillors in East Renfrewshire have approved waste management and haulage firm J&M Murdoch’s application for land at Shillford.

The company requested permission to develop land off Lochlibo Road to support its expansion plans. There were 13 objections to the bid, with concerns raised over increased traffic and the impact on wildlife.

At a planning hearing last Friday, one resident said the plan would put “a big site bang in the middle of this pinch point, where all this transfer of animal routes goes through”.

“To disturb a badger’s foraging area is unlawful, to intercept an otter’s route of migration is unlawful,” he added. “And I don’t yet see in the plans how that’s going to be accommodated.”

He added the “other element of concern is the roadway from Neilston to Uplawmoor” and said: “Traffic has doubled with the increasing size of Uplawmoor. 170 employees, many from Neilston, will increase it again.”

The agent representing Murdoch's said: “Ecological and protected species surveys were done in preparation of the application and there were no protected species found on sites at the time.