New plan mooted for battle site

Stirling Council and the National Trust for Scotland could team up for a tourism project on an area of Bannockburn recently rejected for a trotting track after Scottish Ministers said it would impact the Bannockburn battlefield.

- KAIYA MARJORIBANKS

The Trust had been one of the most vocal critics of the track plans, which the harness racing community argued were their last hope of safeguarding the sport in Scotland.

But at a recent full meeting of Stirling Council, SNP councillor Gerry McLaughlan asked the council's leader, Labour's Cllr Gerry McGarvey about the possibility of the local authority entering into a joint venture with NTS in the area.

"With the recent decision by the Scottish Government to reject the planning application for a trotting track to be built on the fields immediately adjacent to the Heritage Centre," said Cllr McLaughlan, "this now presents an opportunity for an initiative to boost tourism in the area.

"Will the council leader encourage officers to discuss with the Trust the possibility of a joint venture for the use of the land that the application was based on?"

Cllr McGarvey said he was happy for officers to enter into discussions about the future of the field with the Trust but warned that the sensitivities of the site would have to be taken into account.