Decision time looms for Owenstown in Clydesdale

Banner...project manager Bob Laverty at the sign which is part of a 'charm offensive' to convince South Lanarkshire Council to grant Owenstown (Contributed Pic)

It comes in the form of a large banner in a field off the A70 in the Douglas Valley and bears the words: “Jobs and Homes – It’s Decision Time”.

The decision being referred to is the one shortly to be taken by members of South Lanarkshire Council on whether or not to grant the colossal £500 million Owenstown project planning permission.

The charitable Hometown Foundation hopes to create a whole new town in the long economically-beleaguered valley near Rigside with over 3000 homes plus ‘green’ industries, a shopping centre, leisure facilities and a school.

The Gazette learned recently that South Lanarkshire Council’s planning department is set to recommend councillors refuse planning permission on the grounds the scheme doesn’t fit in with council development policies.

Now the Foundation is pulling out all the stops to persuade councillors not to pass up on the chance of the half billion pound investment.

A Foundation spokesman said: “We’ve put up the banner to highlight the issue that’s involved. Do the councillors want thousands of jobs and homes and a £500 million investment – or are they prepared to lose it and perhaps see it go elsewhere?”

For more information on this story, pick up a copy of this week’s Carluke and Lanark Gazette which is out now.