Agendas, reports and minutes

Minutes of Meeting of the Planning Review Body held in the Council Chamber, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Thursday, 21 April 2016 at 10.30 am.

Present:

Dr A Sinclair, Mrs I Campbell, Mr D Fallows, Mr G Farlow, Mr B Lobban, Mrs I McCallum, Mr T Prag, Mr M Reiss, Mr R Saxon

In Attendance:

Mrs K Lyons, Solicitor/Clerk
Mr D Polson, Independent Planning Adviser to the Planning Review Body
Mr S Taylor, Administrative Assistant

Dr A Sinclair in the Chair

Preliminaries

The Chair confirmed that the meeting would be webcast, and gave a short briefing on the Council’s webcasting procedure and protocol.

Business

1. Apologies for Absence

None.

2. Declarations of Interest

None.

3. Minutes of Meetings

The Minutes of Meeting held on 8 March 2016, copies of which had been circulated, were APPROVED.

4. Criteria for Determination of Notices of Review

The Clerk confirmed that, for all subsequent items on the agenda, Members had contained in their USB Flash Drives all of the information supplied by all parties to the Notice of Review.  Members needed to assess each application against the development plan and all relevant material considerations, taking account of the documents lodged by the applicant and interested parties, and to decide whether the application accorded with or was contrary to the development plan.  Having carried out that assessment, Members needed to decide if the weight attached to material considerations added to or outweighed their assessment of the application against the development plan.

The Clerk also confirmed that Google Earth and Streetview could be used during the meeting; Members were reminded of the potential limitations of using these systems in that images may have been captured a number of years ago and may not reflect the current position.  All the Notices of Review were competent.

5. New Notices of Review to be Determined

5.1   Erection of House on Land 40M SE Of, 2 Albert Gate, Albert Street, Nairn – Mr C Stutley, 16-00013/RBREF (RB-12-16)

There had been circulated Notice of Review 16-00013/RBREF for the erection of a house on land 40M SE Of, 2 Albert Gate, Albert Street, Nairn, for Mr Charles Stutley.

Preliminaries

Having NOTED the Clerk’s confirmation that this was a valid and competent Notice of Review, and her advice with regard to the way the Review should be determined (item 4 above refers), the Review Body discussed whether its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives, no further procedure having been requested by the applicant. Members requested sight of Google Earth and Streetview to inform their understanding of the application site.  The Independent Planning Adviser provided this.

Thereafter, the Review Body AGREED that its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives and the Google Earth/Streetview presentation.

Debate and Decision  

Having considered the supporting paperwork the Planning Review Body discussed the Notice of Review. 

During discussion, Members were of the view that:-

• Development of the application site would have an impact on the residential amenity of the neighbouring proprietors as a consequence of the proposed access, loss of existing open space and loss of part of the boundary wall;
• Even though the neighbours had not been told that the land was available for their use, developing the land would adversely impact on their amenity; and
• It was acknowledged that the principle of housing development was not, of itself, in conflict with its residential neighbours but that the proposed development could not be supported because of the impacts that it would have on the neighbours.

Thereafter, the Review Body DISMISSED the Notice of Review on the grounds as set out in the appointed officer’s decision notice.

5.2   Erection of 3 Detached Chalets on Land 135M NW of 8 Teavarron, Kiltarlity – Mr & Mrs A Mackenzie, 16-00015/RBREF (RB-13-16)

There had been circulated Notice of Review 16-00015/RBREF for the erection of 3 detached chalets on land 135M NW of 8 Teavarron, Kiltarlity, for Mr and Mrs Andrew Mackenzie.

Preliminaries

Having NOTED the Clerk’s confirmation that this was a valid and competent Notice of Review, and her advice with regard to the way the Review should be determined (item 4 above refers), the Review Body discussed whether its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives, the applicant having requested a hearing session and site visit. Members requested sight of Google Earth and Streetview to inform their understanding of the site.  The Independent Planning Adviser provided this.

Thereafter, the Review Body AGREED that its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives, and were of the view that the hearing session and site visit requested by the applicant were not required.

Debate and Decision  

Having considered the supporting paperwork the Planning Review Body discussed the Notice of Review. 

During discussion, Members were of the view that:-

• The site was very open and the size of the chalets – resembling houses rather than the traditional chalet – meant they would be very visible in the landscape;
• The importance of tourist to the Highland economy was highlighted and development that supports tourism should be supported; and
• Although other development within the area had been permitted, it would be difficult to mitigate against the impact of this development with planting etc.

No consensus having been reached between the Members, the Chair, seconded by Mr D Fallows, moved that the Notice of Review be DISMISSED on the grounds as set out in the appointed officer’s decision notice.  As an amendment, Mr R Saxon, seconded by Mrs I Campbell, moved that the Notice of Review be APPROVED on the basis that the development proposed considered to be in accordance with Policies 35 and 44 of the Highland wide Local Development Plan and the related supplementary guidance on Housing in the Countryside.

There being no further amendments, the matter was put to the vote with votes being cast as follows:

Motion (7): Mr D Fallows, Mr G Farlow, Mr B Lobban Mrs I McCallum, Mr T Prag, Mr M Reiss and Dr A Sinclair

Amendment (2): Mrs I Campbell and Mr R Saxon

Abstentions (0)

The Review Body DISMISSED the Notice of Review on grounds 1 and 2 as set out in the appointed officer’s decision notice but with an enhanced emphasis of the application’s failure to comply with policy contained in reason 2.

The meeting ended at 11.45 a.m.