Founded in 1987, the Ben Ledi View is a free community newspaper
produced and distributed by volunteers for the benefit and enjoyment of
residents of and visitors to Callander in Perthshire, Scotland, UK. It
is named after Ben Ledi, the 867m hill that towers over the town.
Ten editions, each consisting of approximately 48pp, are published
per year - one per month, excluding August and January. Print and
running costs are funded by advertising, public donations, and
subscriptions from readers resident without Callander. Current
distribution of the main edition is 2,050 (July 2007). A copy is
hand-delivered to every home and business in the town. Large-print and
audio versions are also produced and distributed to visually-impaired
residents.
The paper is published by the Callander Community Newspaper
Association, a non-profit voluntary association formed to promote
community spirit and provide a free means of communication for local
people and community organisations.
For our latest Media Pack for 2010 (published November 2009), which includes publication dates, editorial and advertising copy deadlines, ad sizes and artwork specifications, please click here.
The National Park's Draft Local Plan, which proposes major construction and tourism
developments for Callander, has provoked a great deal
of local concern. We discuss the issues in greater depth in
our Campaigns section,
where you will also find links to the National Park's website from which all
relevant publications can be downloaded. There are also links to the BLV's
response, a summary of readers' responses, and to Callander Community Council's submission to the National Park,
which they have asked us to publish online so that the community is aware of
their position on the Draft Plan.
NEWSFLASH, June 2010
National Park Board approves Finalised Draft Local Plan for referral
On June 23rd 2010 the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park board
gave the Park Authority the go-ahead to refer the Finalised Draft Local Plan to Scottish Ministers for scrutiny. Despite vociferous
objections from many local people to this and the previous Draft's development proposals
for Callander, none of the proposed development sites was removed from the Plan.
Scottish Ministers will appoint a Reporter, who will evaluate the proposed Local Plan in light of all unresolved issues - including the many objections as well as concerns flagged up by Stirling Council, which has just announced that it will be shedding 6 to 8 per cent of its staff during the next three years. Next Spring the Reporter will either approve the plan or recommend that it be amended. After that the Park will be legally bound either to accept the Reporter's recommendations or go back to the drawing board and formulate a new Local Plan. For more information about the scrutiny process please see the Scottish Government's website.
As BLV readers are aware, there has been a considerable amount of criticism about the Park's methods of publicising the consultations. Indeed, many were unaware that the consultations were taking place. Unfortunately the National Park
did not notify the BLV of the dates of the final public consultation in time
for our February issue. Nor were those who objected to proposals in the previous consultation period contacted by the National Park to alert them to the fact that their previous submissions would not be carried forward to this consultation, even though the core issues for Callander remain unresolved.
The Finalised Draft Local Plan and ancillary documents can still be downloaded from the National Park here: Finalised
Draft Local Plan.
Of particular importance to Callander
residents and businesses is the first document, Finalised Draft Local Plan
- Chapters 1 - 4,
in which large scale housing development proposals for Callander are summarised
on pages 22-23. (For instance, both the Gart Caravan Site and Churchfields
- the fields by the Creep between McLaren High School/McLaren Leisure Centre and the River
Teith - have been earmarked by the Park for housing.) Please also read in the
same document: pages 16 and 37-38 (large scale Tourism Development on old quarry
sites and improvement of Callander Town Centre), 17 and 30 (Economic Development
Sites), 31 (Rural Activity Areas), and 40 (extending the range of visitor accommodation
in Callander).
The final document, Report on Consultation: Draft Local Plan contains key points regarding the first Draft Local Plan from submissions made by people in Callander and other National Park communities, as well as by statutory sector bodies, including Stirling Council.
Submissions from the consultation on the Finalised Draft Plan can be downloaded from the Local Plan section of briefing papers for the Board's June 23rd meeting here (Appendix 3).
Please download and read all the documents, and hang on to them in case you need to refer to them again when individual planning applications associated with the Local Plan arise. Although the Local Plan has yet to be ratified, some of the development outlined in it is already forging ahead, and an application for outline planning consent is currently being considered by the National Park for one of the Local Plan's larger residential developments (at Churchfields [Ref: 2008/0376/OUT]). More information about this and other applications on the National Park's online Planning information system here. If you have strong feelings either way about any of the proposed developments it's not too late to speak up.
