Cath has been in touch again with an update:

“We are delighted to announce that we are hosting a meeting for residents to come along and have their say with us about the Ladyfield development.

Date: TUESDAY 6th SEPTEMBER
Time: 6-8pm
Venue: Kingholm Quay Community Centre

It’s an opportunity for us to introduce ourselves to you and tell you a bit about what we have been doing. We have invited local councillors so we want to open up the discussion to anyone who loves this beautiful site. Some of them will be on the planning committee and may be interested in what residents have to say. We hope it will feel informal enough to share concerns and ideas as well as ask questions and we will do our best to answer them. It is also a chance to invite along residents who don’t know about the development like yourselves.”

Cath from Ladyfield/Kingholm Quay has been in touch about upcoming consultations which she believes may affect Caerlaverock residents.

She writes:

“The Ladyfield site on Glencaple Road is currently undergoing masterplanning for a possible development of up to 477 homes, as well as shops and amenities as part of a regeneration of the land by Crichton Trust. Their hope is to turn the 85-acre site into a 21st century village.

Residents of Ladyfield and Kingholm Quay have their own concerns about this and have started a Facebook group with updates about their engagement with the process.

www.facebook.com/SaveLadyfield/

We are aware that certain concerns have the potential to impact all residents who use Glencaple Road as well as other villages on the banks of the Nith and wanted to make sure that everyone affected was aware of the proposals to be part of the consultation process.

Ladyfield itself is vulnerable to flooding. The surface water from the Crichton estate already combines with annual flooding of the Nith / Kingholm Road and the artesian wells on the site to cause the site to flood each winter. Residents are concerned that building on this land, along with predicted increases in sea levels and rainfall over coming decades, as well as the proposed flood defences on the whitesands may pose a significant threat for greater flooding in this area and to residents along the Nith towards the Solway. The picture shows a recent map produced by a climate change study about where the predicted increase in sea level will come to (the Ladyfield site is outlined in blue).

Residents are also raising concerns about traffic issues due to Glencaple Road already being narrow and with various obstacles for current traffic. We have been collating pictures which reflect how narrow the route is at Ladyfield as well as the obstacles you will be familiar with, such as the blind corners where residents have to also park. Crichton has suggested that there are large scale traffic management options being considered in order to support the development.

So far reports have mentioned a large southern bypass extension of the A75, or turning Glencaple Road into a one way system as well as traffic calming to reduce the speed limit along the route. We don’t know what the final proposals for this are yet but traffic issues on this road have implications for everyone who lives in Kelton, Glencaple and Caerlaverock.

We wanted to make sure your communities were aware of this to engage in the consultations and discussions around this.

The next Crichton Trust consultation event is on Wednesday 24th August at 2.30-7pm at Easterbrook hall with other events to follow.
Please feel free to join our page or contact us for more information at saveladyfield@hotmail.com

www.crichton.co.uk/new-milestone-for-21st-century-village-project/