AROUND 100 residents from Soroba and Morvern Hill packed an Oban hotel lounge on Thursday to voice their opposition to a plan to build up to 44 more homes on Lonan Drive, writes Sandy Neil. Plans, submitted by applicant TSL Contractors Ltd, show a mix of 44 flats and semi-detached houses in 12 blocks, with ‘casual’ and ‘equipped’ play spaces, extending beyond the houses on Lonan Drive on land currently used for ‘informal recreation’.
Planning officers recommended Argyll and Bute Council approve the plan and last month councillors agreed to hold a hearing, given the weight of objections. Forty-two objections were lodged by local residents and Oban community councillors, who argued it was the ‘only green area’ within an area of high density housing, with an ‘already overloaded’ road network and a ‘too narrow’ entrance. Now the objectors have unified into one group, unanimously calling for the open space to be kept for recreation.
A spokesperson said: ‘The meeting agreed on the challenges of construction on the site, including a large knotweed infestation, a main water supply pipe and drainage issues. Some householders were worried excavation for the development would lead to gardens in Nant Drive collapsing.