Ardrossan Eco Village Park: Holiday chalet plans withdrawn

The land at the former Montfode Oil storage depot had been earmarked for the major development and an application for planning permission was submitted in December last year, before being validated by North Ayrshire Council's planning department in March.

Bothwell Land and Development Ltd claimed they owned the 27-acre site off the A78 and wanted to build a central hub – including a clubhouse with a restaurant/bar lounge, convenience store, hairdresser and swimming pool – alongside up to 228 static caravans on the vacant land.

The site, which still retains some derelict buildings and structures from the fuel depot, would also have featured a public bowling green, mini golf and a pony/cycle trek.

An architect's impression of the proposed development (Image: Newsquest)

However, the plans were thrown into doubt shortly after being published after it was alleged the applicants falsely suggested they owned all of the land in the proposed development site.

A local resident, who owns a parcel of land where a livery yard is currently situated across from the site - which would be needed to widen the access road for the development - contacted the Herald to claim their ground does not belong to the company and “will not be sold for any amount of money”.

READ MORE: Ardrossan holiday park plans thrown into doubt after land ownership claim

The resident, who purchased the land in 2016 but wished to remain anonymous, said: “We received letters from the council at the end of March, so then we went onto the council website to look at all the plans and documents.

“We found out that the applicant has declared they own all the land, which they do up at the Shell site.

“But they also said they owned the fields from the A78 up on the right-hand side to the old castle ruins, which they don’t, because we do.

“In order to get potentially 228 caravans and the amount of people that would involve and their vehicles, they would have to more than double the width of the road and the only way that they can do that is to use the fields that we own.

“We have never been approached, we’ve never been asked anything about it, the only way we found out was when the council told us, and we would never sell it anyway.

READ MORE: Plans published for eco holiday park on Ardrossan shorefront

“We bought it for the reason it’s being used.

“I spoke to the planning officer dealing with the case and they confirmed the applicant did claim they own this land.

“This is an outfit that’s putting out misinformation and obviously we were shocked to find out that our land was going to be built on.”

A notice published in the council's online planning portal this week confirmed the application has been withdrawn. It is not known yet whether a fresh application will be submitted.

The original plans attracted three public objections, with concerns raised over access to the site, the potential negative impact of the development on the surrounding animal yards, and the "toxic land" from the old oil site.