By David Carnduff

GREEN Party campaigners have joined the chorus of protest over a new bid to build houses on Barrhead’s Fereneze Braes.

David Allison and Laura Stevens, who hope to gain seats on East Renfrewshire Council in next week’s local authority elections, say green spaces are constantly undervalued and risk being spoiled for future generations.

They have joined mounting opposition to a bid for planning permission in principle for around 100 upmarket homes on land close to Boylestone Quarry.

Mr Allison said: “It is disheartening to note that, in addition to this proposal, 10 out of the 13 areas highlighted for development in the council’s latest plan are greenfield sites.

“East Renfrewshire Greens believe we can provide warm, genuinely affordable homes for all while looking after our shared environment.

“If elected, my fellow council candidate Laura Stevens and I will look for ways to put the needs of communities first and work with them to ensure that we build a future for East Renfrewshire that is worthy of the people who live there.

“For me, it’s unquestionable that a future like this will have to protect incredible spaces like the Fereneze Braes.”

Mr Allison said he was pleased when community activists successfully fought to save the stretch of greenbelt land from development back in 2013.

He said: “The campaign was successful in having the area removed from the local development plan and classified as greenfield land.”

Now another company, Gladman Developments, has applied to East Renfrewshire Council for permission in principle to build on the land, with a consultation period already under way.

Mr Allison, who is standing in the Barrhead, Liboside and Uplawmoor ward, believes communities should have the same rights as developers and have an equal right of appeal over planning decisions – something which, at present, only developers have.

He says Green councillors in the region will defend the environment in a number of ways, including prioritising new housing that is affordable, low-carbon, built on brownfield sites and connected to a host of local services, such as schools and shops and health facilities.

No-one at Gladman Developments was available for comment.