{"id":166982,"date":"2025-09-29T00:05:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T00:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/166982\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T00:05:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T00:05:25","slug":"fears-someone-will-be-hurt-as-derelict-former-stirling-office-site-becomes-dumping-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/166982\/","title":{"rendered":"Fears ‘someone will be hurt’ as derelict former Stirling office site becomes dumping ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Old Craigforth site has become a fly tipping hotspot.<\/p>\n

09:34, 23 Sep 2025Updated 13:23, 24 Sep 2025<\/p>\n

\"AA concerned resident has raised the situation at the Craigforth site and has called for action ‘before someone is seriously hurt’<\/p>\n

Renewed safety fears have been raised over a former office site in Stirling<\/a> after its car park has become an unauthorised dumping ground.<\/p>\n

One worried resident has raised the \u201cworsening situation\u201d at the Old Craigforth<\/a> site and has called for action \u201cbefore someone is seriously hurt\u201d.<\/p>\n

The site has become derelict, with hundreds of smashed windows, piles of rubbish fly-tipped in the car park \u2013 including hazardous items like old freezers. Manhole covers have also been stolen for scrap.<\/p>\n

The site, owned by Ambassador Group, was formerly home to M&G (Prudential) before it moved its operations to new offices at Kildean Business Park, a short distance away on the other side of the motorway, back in 2022.<\/p>\n

Developers Ambassador Group were previously granted planning permission in principle for the 54 hectare site comprising new offices, retail space, residential accommodation, care home, nursery and leisure facilities in July last year.<\/p>\n

However, worried locals now fear that the firm has “abandoned” the site, with on-site security also seemingly being pulled.<\/p>\n

One angry resident, who does not wish to be named, said: \u201cDespite planning permission being granted for redevelopment, the site has been left unsecured and is now a major health and safety risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cVehicles are driving straight onto the land through open gates to dump large amounts of waste. Fly tipping is now happening almost every couple of days, and the piles are growing.<\/p>\n

\u201cManhole covers have been stolen for scrap, leaving open and dangerous drops into excavations across the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe site is littered with thousands of broken windows, many with large shards of glass hanging precariously.<\/p>\n

\"SecuritySecurity at the Stirling sitre has seemingly been pulled\"TheThe privately owned site has become a dumping ground for waste material<\/p>\n

“Hazardous waste, including old freezers, is being dumped within the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe landowner has done little more than loosely position a few Heras panels, which are quickly moved aside, giving constant access to fly tippers.\u201d<\/p>\n

They added: \u201cThis neglect is not just unsightly, it is actively dangerous. A recent example illustrates the lawlessness at the site. A car broke down on the access road and within two days it had been vandalised beyond recognition \u2013 windows smashed, panels dented, tyres slashed. This was despite a note being left on the windscreen explaining that it had broken down.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency is aware of the situation and a spokesperson said: \u201cWe have visited the area and investigations are ongoing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, the 17th century B-listed building Craigforth House had also become a target for yobs.<\/p>\n

As the site is privately owned, Stirling Council<\/a> has no jurisdiction over its management.<\/p>\n

Stirling North SNP councillor, Jim Thomson, has urged Ambassador Group to inform locals of its plans for the site and accused the firm of \u201cabandoning\u201d it.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI despair at what is going on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe site has planning permission for commercial and housing development and until earlier this year had on-site security, awaiting a start to development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe council were made aware of the removal of the security and made efforts to engage with the landowner.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegrettably, [I believe] the Ambassador Group has decided to abandon the site and this being private land means the council has no power to act.<\/p>\n

\u201cI urge the owner to let us know what are their plans to develop the site.\u201d<\/p>\n

The worried resident also claims that the site is now being used by motorbike riders and scrambles within the fenced-off car parks, compounding environmental fears.<\/p>\n

The Stirling Observer understands that the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has been contacted over hazardous waste dumped at the site.<\/p>\n

The Ambassador Group has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

Back in June this year, police in Stirling urged youngsters not to put their safety at risk in the \u201ccrumbling\u201d site over the summer holidays.<\/p>\n

\"LocalsLocals are raisieng their concerns over the safety of the former office campus in Stirling\"HugeHuge piles of rubbish have been dumped at the Craigforth site in Stirling<\/p>\n

Officers said that they had received \u201cregular reports\u201d of anti-social behaviour \u2013 including fires \u2013 at the derelict site.<\/p>\n

Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.<\/a><\/p>\n

The windows at the former offices of the pensions and investments firm had been smashed and much of the building daubed in graffiti and police said a number of fires had been started there.<\/p>\n

Inspector Steven McCooey, of Stirling\u2019s Randolphfield Police Office, urged parents to speak to children about the dangers at the site.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cOver the better weather we have received regular reports of people accessing the site to explore and use the area to engage in anti-social behaviour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m aware the location had been of interest for people keen to explore derelict buildings, however I\u2019m pleased to report this appears to be in decline just now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the state of disrepair, the building is now suffering, it would appear many have deemed the site unsafe and as such we have received less reports of such activities. Officers have also engaged with people in attendance to pass on safety concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Prudential'sPolice say they’ve received “regular reports” of anti-social behaviour at the former Prudential site at Craigforth, Stirling\"NeglectedHistoric Craigforth House, near the Prudential site, has also be targeted<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe have however attended several calls relating to anti-social behaviour, with young people putting their, and officers\u2019, safety at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been increased reporting of fires on site, wilfully started, and as such investigations are ongoing around these matters alongside Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe premises is a derelict building and is not safe, with many aspects now crumbling. The landowners have worked hard to install safety measures through fencing and on-site patrols and are currently working with Stirling Council to progress the development of the land.<\/p>\n

\u201cOfficers attend at the location regularly to support on site security, engaging with people they encounter, and provide relevant safety advice whilst dealing with any criminality.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we enter into the school holidays, I would encourage parents to speak with their children about the dangers and risks within the area and discourage them from attending.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Old Craigforth site has become a fly tipping hotspot. 09:34, 23 Sep 2025Updated 13:23, 24 Sep 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166983,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,7859,90,49944,24716,53517,75451,14179,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-166982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-police-scotland","tag-science","tag-scottish-fire-and-rescue-service","tag-scottish-national-party","tag-stirling","tag-stirling-council","tag-stirling-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}