Agendas, reports and minutes

Minute of the site inspection meeting of the Skye and Lochalsh Local Access Forum held in Ord, Teangue, Sleat, Isle of Skye at 10.30 am and the meeting of Skye and Lochalsh Local Access Forum held in the Highland Council Service Point, Broadford at 12.15 pm both on 10 April 2014.  

Present:  

Mr Peter Elford, Mr Willie Fraser, Mr Brian Linington, Mr Ally Macaskill, Mr Bruce Taylor and Mr Robert Ware

In attendance:

Mr Alaisdair H Mackenzie, Legal Manager, Highland Council (Clerk)
Mr Donald Kennedy, Access Officer, Highland Council

Also in attendance:

Eileen Armstrong
T Godfrey
Janet and David Hey
Mr A Lyle (part only of the site inspection)
Mairi MacKenzie
Ruth and David McLeish
R Martin
Mr A Newlands, Agent for Mr & Mrs A Lyle
Douglas Stuart
Jane Whittell
Jan and Dave Young

(In the Chair – Mr Brian Linington)

1.   Apologies for Absence

Mr John Gordon, Mrs Audrey Sinclair and Mr Jim Towers

2.   Local Access Issue – SL24.02/01 Public Access, Ord

Background

Since buying Ord House in 2011, the current owners have disputed the right of members of the public to be on a short linking path within their grounds with measures such as signage and locked gates to discourage access deployed at various times since then.

Current Status

At present there is no obstruction to access. The AO received a letter from land agents acting on behalf of the landowner proposing a re-routing of the path to divert access takers away from the front of the house where the route runs close to the  parking and patio area.

The Forum at its meeting on 28 February 2014 agreed to conduct a site visit.

The Forum convened on site at 10.30 am and walked the existing path and the line of the proposed re-routed path. All present were given the opportunity of pointing out physical features.

Following the site inspection the Forum held a formal meeting in the Highland Council Service Point, Broadford which was attended by a number of those non-forum members who had attended the site inspection.

The following points were made during discussion:

The proposed alternative route

• Was possible but incomplete in that it did not reach as far as the road as Mr Lyle had no control over the area between his land and the road;
• Part of the existing view would be lost;
• The ambience of the existing route would be lost;
• At one point there would be privacy issues with an adjoining house;
• People would still be able to access the majority of the existing route;
• It would allow people to enjoy no less of an experience.  

The existing route

• Screening, by for example a willow hedge, would alleviate the position;
• Was there scope to re-align the path at the start of the route where it runs closest to the house to take it to the seaward side of the fence;

The Forum AGREED:

1.  That it was not in favour of the proposed alternative route; and
2.  That the Access Officer should revisit the site accompanied by Forum members W Fraser and P Elford to 
     investigate whether the re-alignment at the start mentioned above was feasible.  

The meeting closed at 1255 hrs.