Meeting of the Parliament 18 February 2026 [Draft]
I thank Douglas Ross for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I thank everyone who has spoken today. It is very apparent that every party and every representative of the area have received a great deal of correspondence about the matter.
Before I was in politics I had a significant issue with a development in the area where I live, so I understand the strength of feeling when something happens that causes people a great deal of concern. I will not say any more about it than that.
There is an imperative that developers consult and engage early with constituents and the people in whose community they want to base themselves. That is not just something that is required as part of the application; it makes good business sense. Why would someone want to go ahead with a development when they have not engaged with the people they want to support the development? Why would they not turn up to a public meeting that is full of the people they would want to bring onside by answering their questions about the development? That does not make sense to me, as a constituency MSP. If someone in my constituency were proposing a development, and I had received a great deal of correspondence about it, set up a public meeting and been told by the developers that they would come along to answer questions, I would fully expect them to turn up.