We are delighted that the Appeal against the refusal of planning permission for nearly 1000 houses, business premises and associated infrastructure in Green Belt near Calderbank in North Lanarkshire has been dismissed. The local community have been fighting development in their Green Belt for nearly 10 years.
5 February 2026
APRS has been involved with this planning case for nearly a decade, supporting local campaigners from the Woodhall, Faskine and Palacecraig Conservation Group (WFPCG), submitting objections to several iterations of the planning application (pre- and post-NPF4’s adoption) and a representation to the appeal. WFPCG even hosted an APRS AGM a few years ago!
Save Woodhall and Faskine local action group first contacted APRS in April 2014 about their concerns over a proposed major housing development on a nature and history-rich area of Green Belt near Calderbank. In the years since then we have seen a new Planning Act (2019), the adoption of a new North Lanarkshire local development plan (July 2022) and the introduction of NPF4 in 2023. The details of the planning application changed significantly over time, with the applicant also, unsuccessfully, submitting the then scheme to the Scottish government as a potential National Development during the early stages of NPF4’s production. The final application was for a major housing-led, mixed-use development.
North Lanarkshire Council refused the planning application last June, on the grounds that “The proposal is contrary to National Planning Framework 4 and to the North Lanarkshire Local Development Plan 2022 and would represent a significant departure from the development plan spatial strategy”. The developers then appealed to the DPEA (PPA-320-2182). The APRS submission to the appeal can be found in the “Resources” section of the APRS website, along with APRS’s final objection letter to the planning authority from 2024.
The Reporter’s decision notice issued on 3 February 2026, sets out that the proposal was contrary to the development plan in a variety of ways, particularly highlighting the area’s Green Belt designation. The appellant had claimed at appeal that the Green Belt designation was ‘historic’, when it is set out in the extant LDP. The developer’s appeal statement also suggested that because the site had urban development on three sides it wasn’t capable of delivering on Green Belt objectives. APRS strongly objected to this claim and the Reporter seems to have agreed with us. The decision letter also confirmed that it “is not possible to change the green belt status of land through a planning application. This would need to be done through the local development plan process.”
We hope that local campaigners will join us at the APRS AGM and campaigner workshop on 25 April at Beechbrae, Blackridge, West Lothian to talk about their long campaign.
You can find out more about the event and sign up here.
Submission to Planning Appeal for Europark Development
APRS has been supporting the community of Calderbank in fighting a series of applications for planning for thousands of homes and associated infrastructure on Green Belt land for 9 years. This is our response to the planning appeal that has been lodged after the development was rejected by planners.
Previous post about the refusal of planning
North Lanarkshire Council today voted to refuse an application for nearly 1000 houses, business premises and associated infrastructure in the Greenbelt between Calderbank and Coatbridge. This follows a recent report which gave a resounding recommendation to refuse the application. APRS have been supporting local campaigners on the various iterations of this application for the past 9 years.
Today, a meeting of the full Council debated the ‘Europark’ application for nearly a thousand houses and other infrastructure on treasured Green Belt land close to Calderbank in North Lanarkshire. The Council heard from campaigners Ann Glen and Kathleen Weetman spoke with four other locals. The vote was 42 votes to 18 in favour of refusing the application.
This is very long-awaited decision to a planning application that should never have happened on an area of highly valued Green Belt land close to some of Scotland’s most deprived communities. Local people have been forced to step up to defend this special place and we are delighted today that they have won this long-running battle. As Ann Glen, from the local campaign group, said to us during a visit to the site. “The Green Belt here is very much a ‘green lung’ for local people in a location with some of the worst health statistics in Western Europe. The North Calder Water and the Monkland Canal are vital nature corridors and places for local people to use.”
We congratulate the very dedicated local action group – now the Woodhall, Faskine and Palacecraig Conservation group and wish them the very best for all their activities to protect this special place for the future.
Save Woodhall and Faskine local action group first contacted APRS in April 2016 about concerns over a proposed major housing development on a nature and history-rich area of Green Belt. More than 9 years later all APRS eyes turned to a meeting of North Lanarkshire Council at Motherwell Civic Centre where the Council decided planning application 18/00890/PPP (Land To North Of A8 & South Of Sykeside Road & Calderbank Road Sykeside Road, Airdrie)
In the years since the application first went in, we have seen a new Planning Act (2019), the adoption of a new North Lanarkshire Local Development Plan (LDP) (July 2022) and the introduction of NPF4 in 2023. There has also been a growing appreciation of the importance of nature and green spaces to people’s health and well-being and the critical need to address the interlinked nature and climate crises by making sustainable decisions about development.
The site in question is still designated Green Belt, it wasn’t allocated for development in the LDP and the Scottish Government turned it down as a National Development when the applicant submitted it to the consultation on the then draft NPF4. The North Lanarkshire Council Planning Portal lists 39 constraints on the site from flood risk, post coal mining risks, listed buildings, scheduled ancient monuments a local Nature Reserve and at least 8 Sites of Interest for Nature Conservation (SINCs). Nevertheless, the first planning application was submitted in 2018 and has since been altered and resubmitted.
Over the years there have been many thousands of objections from local people with addendums after changes to the application and to planning policy. APRS objected to the proposal in 2018, again in November 2021 and most recently in April 2024. Other objectors include the Woodland Trust highlighting the loss and fragmentation of ancient woodland.
North Lanarkshire Council planners last week published a report on the case ahead of the meeting of the Council today, 12 June 2025 which gave a resounding recommendation to refuse the application. The grounds for refusal were given as “The proposal is contrary to National Planning Framework 4 and to the North Lanarkshire Local Development Plan 2022 and would represent a significant departure from the development plan spatial strategy. It is not considered that any material considerations have been demonstrated which would justify the release of this site from the Green Belt for the proposed purposes.”
The recommendations for refusal note that the proposal is contrary to the Local Development Plan and to many policies in NPF4 including those covering Green Belt; Climate and Nature; Brownfield; Design, Quality and Place; Quality Homes; Business and Industry; City, Town, Local and Commercial Centres; Retail; Climate Mitigation and Adaption; Sustainable Transport; Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhoods; Historic Assets and Places; and Blue and Green Infrastructure.
