Petition protest at Waterfoot plans

Campaigner Andrew Rankine, pictured far right, said: “I moved here more than five years ago because I wanted to retire to a quaint, picturesque village in the country.

“Now, I find a major developer wants to erect modern houses right in the middle of a picturesque part of the village.”

The planning application has been submitted by Gladman Homes LLP on behalf of the land owners for the land to be rezoned from its current greenbelt status to pave the way for new build development.

On Tuesday, a group representing the residents presented a 553-strong petition — that’s more than one signature per household in Waterfoot — to East Renfrewshire council offices at Spiersbridge.

A representative of East Ren council received the petition. She told John McCourt — who set up the campaign group Waterfoot Action to fight the plans, pictured far left — that the council has received approximately 130 objections to the application via email, letter or direct submissions to their website.

However, the application and supporting 30 documents are currently unavailable to view on the council’s website due to a major IT issue.

Mr McCourt said: “The East Renfrewshire online planning portal is having technical problems.

“So, we’re unable to view the planning application documents online and we can’t see details of people’s objections.

“Our understanding is that there’s a statutory two week period for objections or comments to the plans.

“The proposals were first advertised in The Extra on October 9 so the end dates is October 23. East Ren, however, have indicated that they will accept comments right up to the time they make a decision.”