Campaign History

Ownership of Holmehill

In recent times Holmehill has tended to be owned by the owners of the Dunblane Hydro which is sited directly across the Perth Road.

Stakis Hotels were the owners from 1962 to 1999 when they sold to Hilton Hotels.
In 2004 Hilton Hotels put the hotel up for sale (separately from the land at Holmehill). The hotel was sold in April 2005 to the Stardon Group.
Holmehill was put up for sale in December 2004 but it was not until 2006 - following the outcome of our appeal to the Sheriff Court - that Holmehill was sold to Allanwater Developments Ltd of Doune.

Holmehill and the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003

In order to pursue our aim of buying the hill for the benefit of the local community, on two occasions Holmehill Ltd has sought to register a community interest in Holmehill under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

Both attempts have been thwarted by inadequacies in the legislation:-

March 2005 - First Application : This was refused because we were not deemed to have good reasons for submitting a late application and because we were seen to be trying to thwart the planning process. This refusal was the subject of an appeal by Holmehill Ltd to the Sheriff Court (see below)

March 2007 - Second Application : This was refused because the new owners, Allan Water Developments Ltd, had taken out an Option Agreement with a third party and, according to the Scottish Executive, ‘section S39(5) of the Act applies’.

Both our applications and the associated correspondence and decision letters can be viewed on the Scottish Executives RCIL website - click Here

Andy Wightman of the Caledonia Centre for Social Development has written a Two Year Review of the Land Reform (S) Act 2003 which can be accessed at http://www.landreformact.com

In September 2007 Andy also drafted a Land Reform Agenda for the Scottish Parliament

http://www.andywightman.com/docs/landreform2007-final.pdf

Andy Wightman provided great support to Holmehill Ltd prior to and during the appeal at which he appeared as an expert witness.

The appeal

Our first application was deemed to be a ‘late application’ because it was submitted after the land was put on the market. In order for a successful registration in these circumstances, applicants have to satisfy three additional tests to those of a timeous application (that is one received before the land is put up for sale). These tests are contained in Section 39 of the Act and are (paraphrased):

(a) that there were good reasons why the applicant did not secure a timeous application

(b) that there exists significantly greater support for the application among the community (compared to a timeous application)

Scottish Ministers refused Holmehill’s application on the grounds that the reasons given in (a) were not good reasons and because they asserted that the applicant was using the Act to ‘thwart the planning process’ and thus the test at (c) was not satisfied.

Holmehill appealed the decision on the basis that the reasons at (a) were indeed good ones and that at (c) it was in the public interest since, among many things, the site was already designated as green space in the Local Plan and that in any event, a registration under the Act cannot ‘thwart the planning process’.

Sheriff McSherry refused the appeal and awarded costs against Holmehill Ltd. The appeal was refused not because of the merits or otherwise of the decision that Scottish Ministers had taken, but because the Sheriff concluded (based on precedents in other cases) that he should not interfere with the decisions of Scottish Ministers.

Useful articles on the appeal can be accessed at http://www.landreformact.com/news.htm

Events and fund raising

We have held many well-supported events some of which were fund raising. Events have included ceilidhs, a rock & blues night, a community café, a concert with Nashville Guitarist, Richard Smith. For children there has been story telling, a Halloween adventure on Holmehill, and in August 2007 a Family Funday celebrating Saint Blane's day (10th August).

We also raised funding from the local community and supporters to enable us to fight the appeal. Supporters included:-

Caledonia Centre for Social Development
Development Trusts Association Scotland
Lochgoil Community Association
Individual members of Schiehallion Group

What next?

The new land owners, Allanwater Developments Ltd, have made clear that they intend to seek planning permission to develop the 13 acre site of Holmehill, with large houses on the hill itself and smaller, ‘affordable’ housing on the Braeport meadow (the land behind the Braeport Centre).

Once the application has been submitted, Holmehill Ltd will ensure that it is thoroughly debated in the community, and responded to.

Holmehill Community Buyout