Falkirk Council: Gilston Park is green for go with first houses due next year

Cala Homes, who bought the land from Hansteen Developments in 2022, say they are keen to get started on enabling this work this autumn and that could mean the first of the 500 homes being ready by autumn next year.

The £120 million development – first proposed in 1998 – includes plans for around 500 houses as well as shops and other businesses.

Members of Falkirk Council’s planning committee heard that an £8 million package of contributions has been agreed and signed by Cala Homes and the NHS.

This week’s decision means that Falkirk Council can now formally sign its agreement too.

Members heard that the agreement with the NHS means that it will have a choice of taking land to build a new health care facility or accepting three phased payments of £189,000.

Cala hopes that the site will be completed by around 2032.

The application is for planning in principle and more detailed applications will have to be agreed before building starts.

Carolynne Penman, of Cala Homes, said that the company is already negotiating with specialist developers about developing proposals for the ’employment-generating land’, which will include a neighbourhood centre with some shops.

“We are really quite excited about the levels of interest we have received,” she told councillors.

The company, she said, is in detailed discussions about installing a district heating system, which would use a centralised ground source heat pump that will generate heat and hot water for all of the houses on the site.

All of the homes will also have electric vehicle charging.

Some planning guidance has changed since councillors last discussed the proposal, with the introduction of a new national planning framework (NPF4).

The main change is to the guidance around flooding, which increased the allowance for climate change to be factored into the flooding risk.

The guidance also encourages proposals that use or expand natural flood risk management.

Ms Penman told councillors: “We have revised our strategy to include the southern part of the Gilston Burn.

“That has been designed to contain any anticipated flood water within the restored channel.”

The central parkland has also been designed to cope with any additional flooding and provide a large storage area which can then be ‘controlled released’.

Ms Penman said the scheme had been designed in consultation with Falkirk Council and with SEPA and Cala are confident it will control flood risk.

She said that other developments with similar projects have been very successful and have shown that careful planting can make the schemes part of a pleasant landscapes for communities and add to biodiversity.

“This burn restoration gives us the chance to enhance our proposals.

“Our intention is certainly to leave the natural environment in a better condition.”

Councillors were also interested to hear that Cala is keen to work with local people through its ‘community pledge’ – a commitment that would be over and above any planning obligations.