Redco Milne’s

Plans for Forres

Presentation prepared for Big Bogton Picnic, 24 August 2013. All supporting

documents can be found on battleforbogton.wordpress.com

TIMELINE

November 2008 — Redco Milne’s first public consultations. At this time the development

included a supermarket, a petrol station, a garden centre, non-food retail space, a carpark, a

hotel, a football ground and a play area.

April 2009 — Second consultation. The hotel and garden centre were no longer a part of the

proposal. It also became clear that the new football ground would be master-planned by

Redco Milne but would not be funded or built by them.

10 June 2009 — Redco Milne submitted Outline Planning Application 09/01111/OUT for

“Reconfiguration and Extension to the Town Centre”.

February 2011 — Public Consultation. Forres residents voted overwhelmingly against selling

the land to Redco Milne and in favour of renewing the lease with Forres Mechanics instead.

5 July 2011 — Moray Council’s Policy and Resources Committee refused sale of the land at

Bogton Road to Redco Milne in order to facilitate their proposed development.”

October 2012 — Redco Milne submitted Planning Permission in Principle Application

12/01799/PP for a new football stadium.

22 March 2013 — Moray Council approved Application 12/01799/PP for a new football

stadium.

12 June 2013 — Moray Council approved Application 09/01111/OUT for “Reconfiguration

and Extension to Town Centre”

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Redco Milne must now produce a more detailed application which may be heard by

different committees. Several councillors at the planning meeting noted that a public vote

would probably be held.

The sale of any Common Good Land will be considered separately. The Council, in full

consultation with the people of Forres, will be required to decide whether or not to proceed

with the disposal of the site.

An application to sell would require to be lodged with Elgin Sheriff Court. The disposal of the

land could only follow approval from the sheriff who has to be satisfied that the council is

acting in the best interests of the community.

The proceeds of the sale or lease of the Common Good land would be credited to the Forres

Common Good account.

“RECONFIGURATION AND

EXTENSION TO TOWN CENTRE”

Redco Milne’s Outline Planning Application 09/01111/OUT is for:

A retail outlet with a supermarket, and three non-food retail units

A 6-pump petrol station with forecourt shop

A carpark with 380 spaces

Landscaping

A new roundabout onto the A96

Various road alterations and provision for pedestrian and cycle access

The demolition of Forres Mechanics stadium, former Tesco Superstore, several

buildings on Bogton Rd and Caroline St and Lea Rd

Ownership of the land — The site is 5.6 acres in size. The areas already owned by Redco

Milne are: the former Tesco site at Gordon St and an area of land between this site and the

Forres Mechanics Stadium. The stadium and green space are Forres Common Good Land.

Environmental Issues — The green space affected by the development falls within the

Moray Local Plan 2008 Forres designations OPP1 Caroline Street, ENV1 Public Parks and

Gardens and partially within the defined town centre. The site bounds a small portion of the

Conservation Area at Gordon Street close to the Lea Bridge, and it lies within an area

previously affected by flooding.

Conditions — The Permission for Development decision notice includes:

9. Any further application must be accompanied by a detailed bat survey.

10. The Forres Mechanics stadium cannot be removed until the new stadium is operational.

18. No trees, shrubs or hedgerows on the site shall be removed without written consent.

19g. Bogton Rd is to be widened to a minimum of 7.3m for HGV service delivery vehicles.

13. No development that could impact on floodplain storage or conveyance of the River

Findhorn shall commence until the Findhorn Flood Prevention Scheme is finished.

22. The new access roundabout on the A96 must be completed before work begins.

27. No part of the development shall be occupied until a comprehensive Travel Plan that

sets out proposals for reducing dependency on the private car has been approved

THE 2011 VOTE

In 2011, Moray Council commissioned Craigforth as independent researchers to gauge the

views of Forres residents on the potential sale of Common Good land at Bogton Road in

Forres. The consultation form presented three options:

1. Against sale to Redco Milne, and instead offer a new lease of Mosset Park to the football

club on appropriate terms.

2. Proceed with sale of land to Redco Milne on terms to be agreed and approved, with no

assistance offered to the football club.

3. Proceed with sale of land to Redco Milne on terms to be agreed and approved, with

assistance offered to the football club. Any financial assistance would be paid from the

Common Good fund.

A total of 1718 responses had been received. According to the report:

“Measured against the total of 4700 consultation packs issued this represents an overall

response rate of 37%, a very strong response for this kind of public consultation.”

Of these, 1706 were considered “valid” responses, equivalent to a response rate of 36%.

“In terms of the robustness of findings for any consultation or survey, it is the volume of

responses received that is most important rather than the percentage response per se. In this

regard the total of 1706 responses provides a very robust basis for consultation analysis.”

The results were:

Option 1: 70%

Option 2: 4%

Option 3: 25%

No preference: 1%

While the vote proved that Forres residents were against the sale of land to Redco Milne,

the survey options were phrased in such a way as to offer respondents a choice between

selling the land to Redco Milne or continuing to lease it to Forres Mechanics. Since Redco

Milne has now secured planning approval for relocation of the stadium, it’s not clear

whether the 2011 vote results are applicable to the current situation.

BOGTON GREEN SPACE

Bogton green space — There are around 4 hectares of green space at Bogton. It is Common

Good Land, a gift to the community, and is used daily by dog walkers, children and families.

Flora and fauna — There are approximately 120 mature trees here - all of which are

recorded and tagged by Moray Council - plus lots of bushes. Residents have seen red deer,

red squirrels, bats, swifts, swallows and martins, wood peckers and hedgehogs.

The children’s playpark — The playpark area of Bogton was fought for and established

around 1987/88 after the completion of the A96 Forres Bypass. Since then it has never had an

upgrade and it has deteriorated over the last five years due to lack of maintenance. Other

sites in Forres have had play equipment replaced but not Bogton.

Moray Local Plan 2008: Policy E4 Green Spaces — Bogton Common Good Land is designated

ENV1 in the Moray Local Plan 2008. It is covered by policy E4 Green Spaces which states:

The aim of the policy is to protect ‘green spaces’ identified in the settlement statements and

rural community statements. Green spaces in the built environment provide opportunities for

social contact and recreation and provide biodiversity and landscape benefits.

Development on ENV1 sites should be refused unless:

a. The proposal is for a public use that clearly outweighs the value of the green space.

b. The development is sited and designed to minimise adverse impacts on the recreational,

amenity and biodiversity value of the site.

Planning Policy — The Scottish Planning Policy document states:

149. Access to good quality open spaces and opportunities for sport and recreation make

important contributions to a healthier Scotland. The planning system has a role in helping to

create an environment where physical wellbeing is improved and activity made easier.

153. There is a presumption against development of these open spaces.

NEW FOOTBALL PITCH

Redco Milne’s Planning Permission in Principle 12/01799/PPP is for a new football pitch,

clubhouse incorporating licensed bar, stand, perimeter wall, floodlighting and car parking.

The stadium will be sited on Bogton Road and use 1.99 hectares of Common Good Land.

Forres Mechanics Response — A statement on the Forres Mechanics website, dated 23

October 2012, says:

Following the announcement of Redco Milne of a new planning application for a proposed

development on the existing site of Forres Mechanics ground Mosset Park, Club Chairman, Dr

James Anderson has stated:

“Forres Mechanics Football Club acknowledge the statement from Redco Milne released

today. From the very start the Club have been careful not to express an opinion on whether

or not the Redco Milne proposal for Development is good or bad.

That decision has to be expressed by the people of Forres, and on the occasion they were

asked, the answer was “No”. The club has said from the very start that if Mosset Park has to

be moved there has to be betterment for the Club. This is a view that we have established

with Redco Milne and Moray Council.

The Club believe today’s statement by Redco Milne is an acknowledgement that nothing can

happen without the needs of Forres Mechanics FC first being met. The Club also thinks it

likely that the next step will be to examine public opinion again.

Who will pay? — At the Moray Council planning hearing on 12 June, a possible scenario

presented was this: the District Valuer will put a price on the Common Good Land. The

council will then sell the land to Redco Milne with a discount on the market price to

compensate them for building the stadium.

Redco Milne’s Retail Assessment says: Part of the land which is proposed for development is

“common good” land. The intention is that the developer will contribute a capital sum in

return for the development of this land. In turn, this capital sum will allow the council to

implement improvements to the environment and leisure facilities

ECONOMIC BENEFITS?

How many jobs? — Redco Milne say they will bring 500 jobs to Forres (not including

construction workers). The figure is not based on any available research and even the Moray

Councillors had to take it at face value. The Retail Assessment makes no mention of jobs.

Full-time or Part time — Redco Milne spokesperson, Stewart Oak, at the planning meeting

on 11 June, said that the 500 includes part-time, and would be 350 full-time-equivalent jobs

“Retained” versus new jobs — There is speculation that the new jobs will be transfers from

Nairn Rd Tesco. If this is the case there will be no increase to the total employment in Forres.

£25 million investment — No breakdown of that figure has been made public. However it’s

likely that most of it will be paid back to the main construction company, namely Stewart

Milne Group. As such it will probably have negligible impact on the Forres economy.

Economic viability — The retail park has a supermarket and three shops. It’s questionable

whether out-of-town shoppers will come and seems likely that Forres residents will still

travel to Inverness and Elgin for comparison shopping.

The Retail Assessment states that shoppers will come from Nairn, Elgin, Lossiemouth and

Grantown-on-Spey for the supermarket, and that they will come from Nairn and Grantown

(but not Elgin or Lossiemouth) for the non-food retail units. This isn’t backed by any relevant

survey of shoppers, nor any discussion of alternative possibilities. According to the report

these areas have been defined by “Muir Smith Evans on the basis of experience and

judgement, and in discussion with the consultant appointed by Moray Council.”

Negligible developer contribution — Due to policy changes, the only Developer

Contribution attached to the development is some improvement to core paths and

transportation infrastructure. On 12 June, Councillor Gordon McDonald said: “I am

astonished for a development of this scale that this council is not managing to get a penny

virtually out of them.”

For comparison, the Buckie Tesco Developer Contributions totalled £406,000, and that store

is less than half the size of the proposed Redco Milne supermarket

OBJECTIONS TO THE PLANS

Bogton Road Common Good Land is designated ENV1 in the Moray Local Plan 2008. It is

covered by policy E4 Green Spaces.

A beautiful area of meadows and trees will be replaced with concrete and tarmac.

Forres is different from other towns. This development will spoil its unique character.

Common Good land is for community use and not for private commercial use.

Forres should NOT foot the bill for the new stadium.

Bogton children will lose their playpark and have to walk through streets with no pavements

and cross busy Victoria Road to get to the Grant Park.

Mosset Park is not the town centre, it’s down a steep brae with a dangerous junction.

The classic view of Forres from Findhorn will be lost

The development is purely commercial and doesn’t meet any social need.

Alternative retail space is available. The MC Town Centre Health Check 2012 found 38,405

sq feet of empty retail space on Forres High St. The old Tesco is 20,000 sq feet.

There is large retail space on the High St. Home Hardware store is more than 9000 sq feet.

Forres already has three supermarkets and doesn’t need a new one.

Retail outlets will be taken by chainstores, when the newness wears off they’ll close.

Existing shops on Forres High Street may suffer a fall in business.

No research has been provided to support Redco Milne’s job claims.

If the jobs are retained, there will be no net increase to employment in Forres.

Profits from the development will be taken out of Forres.

The retail park is too small to stop leakage or attract out-of-town shoppers.

There is no motive for Elgin, Lossiemouth or Nairn shoppers to visit the supermarket.

There are natural springs under the ground which fill up when the tide is in. The project will

cause drainage issue, serious impacts if the proposed petrol station is flooded.

The main Forres gas supply cuts the development area in two and the original sewer passes

through the same site. Both cannot be built over.

The streets around Bogton are steep and narrow and have areas with no pavements. The

area is not suitable for heavy construction vehicles, nor for increased traffic. Residents will

lose parking space and access to garages. Users of Hop, Skip and Jump Nursery will face

traffic dangers. In winter, the icy hills are too steep and the only access to the site is via Lea

Bridge which has a 3-tonne gross vehicle weight limit.